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FAA clears Boeing 737 MAX software glitch, reopening path to MAX 10 certification

The FAA's Corrective Action Review Board concluded the flight computer software defect that had paused 737 MAX 10 certification is not a safety of flight issue, clearing the path for Boeing's newest and largest MAX variant.

2 October 2026

On 2 October 2026, the FAA's Corrective Action Review Board concluded that a flight management computer software defect Boeing disclosed in September does not pose a safety of flight risk, according to CNBC and Bloomberg. The board found that pilots retain full control of the aircraft and that cockpit indications remain clear during the affected scenario, in which the flight guidance system can drop out of vertical navigation mode during a go around.

In plain terms

A Corrective Action Review Board is the process the FAA uses after certification to judge whether a newly found defect needs mandatory action such as an Airworthiness Directive. Concluding there is no safety risk means no such directive follows from this particular finding.

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford had paused certification of the 737 MAX 10 on 28 September 2026 over the defect, pending the board's review, after Boeing disclosed the problem on 26 September. Boeing shares fell nearly seven percent on the day of the pause. The determination clears the principal obstacle that had stood in the way of the MAX 10, the last and largest variant in Boeing's single aisle family, which carries combined orders with the MAX 7 of more than 1,700 aircraft. Neither Boeing nor the FAA has given a new certification date.

The underlying software, versions 14 and 14.1 of the flight management computer supplied by GE Aerospace, remains in service on existing MAX aircraft. Boeing has said it is bringing forward a permanent fix originally planned for 2028.

Full detail on the defect and its maintenance consequence is on the 737 MAX page.

Sources