EU regulator to clear Boeing 737 MAX flights next week

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) plans to clear the Boeing 737 MAX to fly again next week, 22 months after the plane was grounded following two fatal crashes.

"For us, the MAX will be able to fly again starting next week," after the publication of a directive, EASA director Patrick Ky said in a video conference.

"We have reached the point where our four main demands have been fulfilled," Ky said during the conference, organized by the German association of aviation journalists.

The MAX was grounded in March 2019 after two crashes that killed 346 people -- the 2018 Lion Air disaster in Indonesia and an Ethiopian Airlines crash the following year.

Investigators said the leading cause of both crashes was a faulty flight handling system known as the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System or MCAS.

Meant to keep the plane from stalling as it ascends, the automated system instead of forced the plane's nose downward.

The findings plunged Boeing into crisis, with more than 650 orders for the 737 MAX canceled since last year.