[France24] More than 20 months after it was grounded following two deadly crashes, Boeing's 737 MAX returned to the skies Wednesday with a commercial flight in Brazil, said AFP journalists on board.Low-cost airline Gol's Flight 4104 from Sao Paulo to the southern city of Porto Alegre took off using the revamped jet in a first that Boeing hopes will turn the page on a badly damaging crisis in the wake of the twin crashes.
Most passengers aboard the 88-percent booked and 90-minute flight took little notice of the model number painted on the plane's nose, and Gol made no fanfare for the occasion.
"Good to know," a passenger said when told by an AFP journalist that the flight would be the first to use the 737 MAX since its worldwide grounding in March 2019.
"If it's here, that must mean it's safe, right?" said the man, who asked that his name not be used.
The pilot -- one of 140 at Gol who received special updated training in the United States on the overhauled jet -- flashed a thumbs-up from the cockpit window as passengers boarded the plane.