Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) asks for Compliance post FAA directive on Cabin altitude pressure switches of B737 series Aircrafts !

Boeing 737 cabin altitude pressure switches Issue !

On 15th July, U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had issued a directive to operators of all Boeing B737 series Jets to conduct inspections-testing to address possible failures of cabin altitude pressure switches.

Today, Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) has instructed all affected airline operators in Malaysia to ensure safety measures are implemented due to the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requirements on inspections for all Boeing 737 airliners to address possible failures of cabin altitude pressure switches.

• It started after an operator reported in September that both pressure switches failed the on-wing functional test on three different 737 models.
• All versions of the B737 aircraft series come under the Directive, including the MAX, but it has nothing to do with MAX's MCAS system, that grounded the plane for nearly 2 years.
• The directive requires operators to conduct repetitive tests of the switches and replace them if needed. The directive covers 9,315 airplanes worldwide.

CAAM chief executive officer Captain Chester Voo Chee Soon said Malaysian operators affected by Continued Airworthiness Notification to International Community (CANIC) are fully aware, and have planned to perform the testing within the timeline prescribed in Boeing’s Multiple Operator Message (MOM).

“Operators like Malaysia Airlines have issued a Technical Service Instruction (TSI) for 47 of their B737-800 series aircraft, and Malindo Airways issued an Engineering Order (EO) for six of their B737-800 series and six of their B737-900ER series aircraft,” said CAAM chief executive officer Captain Chester Voo.

CAAM confirmed that the FAA had issued a CANIC to CAAM on July 15, and an FAA CANIC has been issued following Boeing’s MOM sent on June 24 to all affected Boeing 737 operators worldwide including Malaysian operators.

He noted that MOM requires the functional check of the pressure switches for the cabin altitude warning system to be performed at an earlier interval of 2,000 flight hours instead of the originally scheduled check at 6,000 flight hours for the 737 Next Generation (NG) and 4,000 flight hours for the 737 Classic (CL).

Earlier, FAA said failure of the switches could result in the cabin altitude warning system not activating if the cabin altitude exceeds 10,000 feet (3,050 m), at which point oxygen levels could become dangerously low.

Boeing said it supports "the FAA’s direction, which makes mandatory the inspection interval that we issued to the fleet in June."The FAA directive did not report any in-flight failures of the switches.

Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) assures Safety Compliance !

Malay Mail sources reveal , Captain Chester Voo said the FAA is also considering issuing an Airworthiness Directive (AD) to mandate functional testing of the pressure switches for the cabin altitude warning system.

CAAM assures the public that safety compliance is of utmost importance and all Boeing 737s operating in Malaysia are inspected accordingly.

Voo pledged that CAAM will ensure continued compliance to all international safety standards in the country’s civil aviation industry to ensure the safety of all operators and the public.