Boeing updating software for 737 Max flights

Washington: Boeing was making "steady progress" on the path to certifying of a crucial software update for the 737 MAX aircraft, CEO Dennis Muilenburg has said after two fatal crashes in recent months forced the grounding of the model, including by Indian carriers.

He assured global airline industry that Boeing has also made the final engineering test flight before certification for the 737 MAX aircraft.

The Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) system of the 737 MAX aircraft has come under scrutiny from investigators reviewing two fatal crashes -- the Lion Air crash on October 29 and the Ethiopian Airlines crash on March 10.

Boeing has been developing and testing a software change to the system that will now factor in input from a second sensor.

"We're making steady progress on the path to certification for our 737 MAX software update thanks to the work of our Boeing pilots, engineers and technical experts," Muilenburg said in a video on his Twitter account.

"Yesterday we completed the official engineering flight test with the updated software with our technical and engineering leaders on board the airplane," he said.