Boeing 737 Max Inspections Proposed Over Elevator Control Concerns

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has proposed new inspections for Boeing's 737 Max aircraft due to concerns about bearings in the elevator buss assembly. The proposal affects specific 737-8, 737-9, and 737-8200 airplanes, with an estimated 95 U.S.-registered aircraft impacted.

The issue involves bearings that may have been installed incorrectly during production, which could lead to cracks developing in the bearings or their housings and potentially cause premature failure of the elevator buss assembly crank arms. The FAA estimates that each inspection would require approximately 23 work hours, with a labor cost of about $1,955 per aircraft.

The proposal is intended to address an unsafe condition that could exist or develop on other aircraft of the same type design, and maintenance personnel would look for evidence of cracking and determine whether the required sealant was correctly applied during production. The FAA has not determined how many of the affected aircraft would require repairs, meaning the inspection requirement represents the initial step in identifying whether individual airplanes have the production-related condition.