Boeing 737 MAX set to begin first day of certification test flights: officials

SEATTLE/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A Boeing Co 737 MAX is set to take off on Monday around 1 p.m. EDT (10 a.m. PDT) from a Seattle airport on the first day of certification flight testing with U.S. Federal Aviation Administration test pilots, a crucial moment in its worst-ever crisis, company and government officials confirmed.

Boeing Flight 701 is scheduled to depart from Seattle’s Boeing Field and land two hours later at Moses Lake airport, according to flight tracking website FlightAware. The plane is then scheduled to depart Moses Lake soon afterward, arriving back in Seattle at 1:22 p.m. PDT.

(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle and David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Chris Reese)