Southwest uses the same new Boeing plane in Indonesia crash
Mar 13, 2019, 3:04 pm
#241
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Mar 15, 2019, 11:17 am
#242
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At this point, Boeing isn't delivering any new MAX aircraft.
Mar 16, 2019, 8:23 am
#244
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https://www.latimes.com/local/califo...315-story.html
An interesting article on how some original decisions on the Boeing 737-100 has handicapped the companies ability to modernize the airplane. The biggest problem is how low to the ground the plane was made. This was so people did not have to many steps to climb to enter the aircraft ( it was before we had jetways ) and so that ground personnel didn’t have lift cargo to high to get it into the belly ( it was before mechanized cargo loaders)
An interesting article on how some original decisions on the Boeing 737-100 has handicapped the companies ability to modernize the airplane. The biggest problem is how low to the ground the plane was made. This was so people did not have to many steps to climb to enter the aircraft ( it was before we had jetways ) and so that ground personnel didn’t have lift cargo to high to get it into the belly ( it was before mechanized cargo loaders)
Mar 17, 2019, 2:37 pm
#245
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Every paragraph of this article gets progressively worse:
"Dennis Tajer, a spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association at American Airlines, said his training on moving from the old 737 NG model cockpit to the new 737 MAX consisted of little more than a one-hour session on an iPad, with no simulator training."
- Pilots never knew the malfunctioning sensor even existed, never mind how to turn it off, as a "cost-saving measure".
- Boeing itself, not the FAA, oversaw certification.
- MCAS was capable of moving the tail more than 4x farther than stated in the initial safety analysis document.
Mar 17, 2019, 3:45 pm
#246
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Every paragraph of this article gets progressively worse:
- Pilots never knew the malfunctioning sensor even existed, never mind how to turn it off, as a "cost-saving measure".
- Boeing itself, not the FAA, oversaw certification.
- MCAS was capable of moving the tail more than 4x farther than stated in the initial safety analysis document.
One current FAA safety engineer said that every time the pilots on the Lion Air flight reset the switches on their control columns to pull the nose back up, MCAS would have kicked in again and “allowed new increments of 2.5 degrees.”
“So once they pushed a couple of times, they were at full stop,” meaning at the full extent of the tail swivel, he said.
Peter Lemme, a former Boeing flight controls engineer who is now an avionics and satellite-communications consultant, said that because MCAS reset each time it was used, “it effectively has unlimited authority.”
Woah.
Mar 17, 2019, 6:50 pm
#247
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The Wall Street Journal
March 17th, 2019 8:20pm EDT
Transportation Department Is Probing FAA’s Approval of Boeing’s 737 MAX
The FAA said Sunday that the 737 MAX, which entered service in 2017, was approved to carry passengers as part of the agency’s “standard certification process,” including design analyses; ground and flight tests; maintenance requirements; and cooperation with other civil aviation authorities. Agency officials in the past have declined to comment on various decisions regarding specific systems. Sunday’s statement said the agency’s “certification processes are well established and have consistently produced safe aircraft.”
March 17th, 2019 8:20pm EDT
Transportation Department Is Probing FAA’s Approval of Boeing’s 737 MAX
DOT inspector general is examining potential failures in the agency’s safety-review process
The FAA said Sunday that the 737 MAX, which entered service in 2017, was approved to carry passengers as part of the agency’s “standard certification process,” including design analyses; ground and flight tests; maintenance requirements; and cooperation with other civil aviation authorities. Agency officials in the past have declined to comment on various decisions regarding specific systems. Sunday’s statement said the agency’s “certification processes are well established and have consistently produced safe aircraft.”
Mar 17, 2019, 6:57 pm
#248
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WSJ March 17th? They don't publish on Sunday; there's a weekend edition for Saturday and Sunday. AFAIK the various international editions are the same, plus they often publish articles a day after they appear in the USA edition. Or is this some pre-published article on their website that might/should appear in Monday's (tomorrow's) WSJ?
Mar 17, 2019, 7:42 pm
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WSJ March 17th? They don't publish on Sunday; there's a weekend edition for Saturday and Sunday. AFAIK the various international editions are the same, plus they often publish articles a day after they appear in the USA edition. Or is this some pre-published article on their website that might/should appear in Monday's (tomorrow's) WSJ?
2. Agreed
3. Presumably
And the article has since been updated again 10:14pm CDT March 17th.
Last edited by steved5480; Mar 17, 2019 at 9:42 pm
Mar 18, 2019, 7:59 am
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Mar 20, 2019, 6:19 pm
#251
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FBI joining criminal investigation into certification of Boeing 737 MAX
Criminal investigations into the U.S. aviation industry, including federal oversight of airplane manufacturing and airline operations, are rare — in part because of the longstanding belief that a civil-enforcement system better promotes candid reporting of concerns without fear of criminal repercussions.
Mar 21, 2019, 2:23 pm
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Doomed Boeing Jets Lacked 2 Safety Features That Company Sold Only as Extras
Boeing’s optional safety features, in part, could have helped the pilots detect any erroneous readings. One of the optional upgrades, the angle of attack indicator, displays the readings of the two sensors. The other, called a disagree light, is activated if those sensors are at odds with one another.
Boeing will soon update the MCAS software, and will also make the disagree light standard on all new 737 Max planes, according to a person familiar with the changes, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they have not been made public. Boeing started moving on the software fix and the equipment change before the crash in the Ethiopia.
The angle of attack indicator will remain an option that airlines can buy. Neither feature was mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration. All 737 Max jets have been grounded.
“They’re critical, and cost almost nothing for the airlines to install,” said Bjorn Fehrm, an analyst at the aviation consultancy Leeham. “Boeing charges for them because it can. But they’re vital for safety.”
-----
The three American airlines that bought the 737 Max each took a different approach to outfitting the cockpits.
American Airlines, which ordered 100 of the planes and has 24 in its fleet, bought both the angle of attack indicator and the disagree light, the company said.
Southwest Airlines, which ordered 280 of the planes and counts 36 in its fleet so far, had already purchased the disagree alert option, and it also installed an angle of attack indicator in a display mounted above the pilots’ heads. After the Lion Air crash, Southwest said it would modify its 737 Max fleet to place the angle of attack indicator on the pilots’ main computer screens.
United Airlines, which ordered 137 of the planes and has received 14, did not select the indicators or the disagree light. A United spokesman said the airline does not include the features because its pilots use other data to fly the plane.
Boeing will soon update the MCAS software, and will also make the disagree light standard on all new 737 Max planes, according to a person familiar with the changes, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they have not been made public. Boeing started moving on the software fix and the equipment change before the crash in the Ethiopia.
The angle of attack indicator will remain an option that airlines can buy. Neither feature was mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration. All 737 Max jets have been grounded.
“They’re critical, and cost almost nothing for the airlines to install,” said Bjorn Fehrm, an analyst at the aviation consultancy Leeham. “Boeing charges for them because it can. But they’re vital for safety.”
-----
The three American airlines that bought the 737 Max each took a different approach to outfitting the cockpits.
American Airlines, which ordered 100 of the planes and has 24 in its fleet, bought both the angle of attack indicator and the disagree light, the company said.
Southwest Airlines, which ordered 280 of the planes and counts 36 in its fleet so far, had already purchased the disagree alert option, and it also installed an angle of attack indicator in a display mounted above the pilots’ heads. After the Lion Air crash, Southwest said it would modify its 737 Max fleet to place the angle of attack indicator on the pilots’ main computer screens.
United Airlines, which ordered 137 of the planes and has received 14, did not select the indicators or the disagree light. A United spokesman said the airline does not include the features because its pilots use other data to fly the plane.
Mar 21, 2019, 3:18 pm
#254
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Mar 21, 2019, 3:25 pm
#255
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https://aviation.stackexchange.com/q...-unusual-shape