The FAA has “tentatively approved,” the update, but it needs to go through simulations and flight testing. If it works and is formally approved, the update could be issued in “the next few weeks.” The agency didn’t comment to the WSJ about the specifics of the changes. Last week’s crash shared similarities with another deadly crash in Indonesia last October, and investigators believe that both crashes stemmed from the same issue: an automated system designed to prevent the plane from stalling. To account for that, Boeing put into place the MCAS, which would bring the nose down automatically. Previously, Boeing had touted the fact that the plane was similar enough to the existing 737 plane that pilots wouldn’t need to go through extensive retraining — those pilots trained on an iPad.

Source: Wall Street Journal March 24, 2019 15:45 UTC