Overview
- Boeing told 737 operators in late August about a flight-management software problem that can leave pilots without automated vertical navigation during a specific missed-approach scenario and issued guidance to crews.
- The flaw can occur when crews abort a landing, change a preprogrammed flight path and then attempt a new approach, causing VNAV to disengage and the autopilot to revert to a simpler pitch mode that raises pilot workload at low altitude.
- The FAA will convene a Corrective Action Review Board to assess whether the issue is a safety concern and said it will act immediately if regulators judge a fix is needed.
- Some major U.S. carriers have asked Boeing not to accept new MAX deliveries with the affected software while others say their in-service MAX 8/9 fleets do not use the implicated versions and can revert to earlier software.
- Boeing is accelerating work on a permanent software update—originally slated for 2028—and the review could affect certification timing and deliveries for the remaining MAX variants, with direct consequences for pilots, schedules and Boeing’s narrowbody program.