THE US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has refused to allow Boeing to proceed with the next phase of 777X flight testing as the manufacturer works towards gaining regulatory approval for the widebody. The FAA has warned the Chicago-based manufacturer that it may have to conduct more test flying than previously anticipated, and that certification would not realistically be issued in late 2023, further delaying the type's entry into service, now likely to take place early in 2024. In a letter sent to Boeing by the FAA, the regulatory body cites several reasons for requiring additional flight test hours to be conducted, including: "an incident during a test flight on December 8,2020 when the aircraft's nose pitched abruptly up or down without pilot input." Boeing has yet to satisfy the FAA that it fully understood and corrected whatever went wrong that day. It also mentions other areas of concern, such as a critical avionics system proposed for the aircraft that does not meet FAA requirements and proposed modifications involving late changes to both software and hardware in the electronics of the jet's flight controls.
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