![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thewofa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/ACN_737-MAX-89_K66087.jpg\")
However, when Transport Canada began asking for clarifications on how the new system worked, and why the 737 MAX didn\u2019t require a new operating certificate because it flew differently than previous models, Boeing sidestepped the issue.<\/p>\n
The company said in 2017 it was in a rush to get the plane certified because it was set to deliver planes to WestJet, Air Canada and Sunwing Airlines in a matter of months.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease note that in order to meet its delivery commitments to the Canadian operators, Boeing has requested Transport Canada to issue the plane\u2019s airworthiness certificate in June 2017,\u201d the documents said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo avoid delivery delays to our operators\u201d, Transport Canada agreed to approve the plane, and stated that the concerns raised would \u201cremain open\u201d. Transport Canada then approved the plane, and the questions about the software weren\u2019t dealt with.<\/p>\n
The documents raise new questions about why Transport Canada didn\u2019t ground the plane due to safety concerns early on. Conservative MP Todd Doherty, who discussed the documents at the hearing, told the federal Transportation Committee that it would have taken only one country to raise alarms about irregularities with the plane, rather than rely on the US Federal Aviation Administration\u2019s certification of the MAX.<\/p>\n
In a November 2018 document \u2013 dated a few weeks after the first crash \u2013 Transport Canada asked Boeing for more information about the software, even as the plane was allowed to continue operating.<\/p>\n
\u201cTransport Canada requests further details to understand whether the potential exists for any single failure … to cause an inadvertent nose-down pitch command from the stall identification system, which is considered to be catastrophic,\u201d the documents said.<\/p>\n
It was at that point that Transport Canada learned more about the MCAS, which was intended to stabilise the 737 MAX but could force it downward if it was fed incorrect data from a malfunctioning sensor.<\/p>\n
The emergence of the documents at the hearings led to a heated exchange between Transport Minister Marc Garneau and Doherty, who asked the minister why the plane was allowed to fly if there were outstanding questions from test pilots, which Boeing had not resolved.<\/p>\n
Minister Garneau and other Transport Canada officials said the documents were from a \u201cConcern Paper\u201d filed by the regulator to Boeing, but contended that the issues raised by the test pilots were better characterised as \u201cquestions\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m aware of the concern letter and I\u2019m also aware that we had decided that we would still accept it as an ongoing open file,\u201d Minister Garneau said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not necessarily saying we\u2019re not going to accept this aircraft, we\u2019re saying there are some things that we need to better understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
Doherty said the test pilots were correct to flag their concerns, but Transport Canada failed to follow through on getting answers about the automated software, which could have saved lives. \u201cIt took one person to say, \u2018Wait a second, we\u2019re not getting the answers to the questions that we had\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under decades-old aviation agreements, Transport Canada relied heavily on the FAA to scrutinise the 737 MAX, and has the option to validate that regulator\u2019s work. However, congressional hearings in the US have shown that the FAA outsourced much of its oversight of the new plane\u2019s design to Boeing\u2019s own engineers. That left Canada and other countries uninformed about the fatal MCAS system.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot all of the information was provided to us on the MCAS; that was something that we found out later,\u201d Minister Garneau said. \u201cIt makes us realise that we\u2019ll have to be quite careful and pay attention to these things during future certification processes.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the government is now examining its aircraft certification system, and has promised a revamp of how it approves new planes. Proposed regulations that would have seen Canada surrender additional scrutiny to the FAA, including test flights, are now being reversed, and the government intends to build more safeguards into the aircraft vetting process.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn\u2019t just about the 737 MAX,\u201d NDP MP Taylor Bachrach said. \u201cIt seems to be about a more systemic problem of self-regulation and a lack of due diligence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pressed by opposition MPs at the hearing over whether he trusts the FAA, which has been heavily criticised by US lawmakers, Minister Garneau said Transport Canada has learned that it needs to \u201cbe a little more sceptical\u201d in the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that we have all learned in the last year some very important lessons,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Minister Garneau, who met with the families of the 18 Canadians who died in the Ethiopian crash last month, said he regretted not arranging a meeting sooner. The minister agreed to a meeting after The Globe and Mail<\/em> reported that the families had been asking for nearly a year.<\/p>\n \u201cI apologised to them personally for not meeting with them earlier,\u201d he said. \u201cThe culture at Transport Canada \u2026 is one of dealing with technical issues. We should have been more sensitive to the fact that there were humans also involved here.\u201d<\/p>\n