Boeing and a lot of Airlines are gonna have BIG problems….
It involves people’s lives….
Boeing says it will deploy a 737 MAX software “enhancement” across the fleet in the coming weeks incorporating feedback “received from our customers”. According to the company, the FAA will also mandate the change in an Airworthiness Directive (AD) “no later than April.”
The statement comes in the aftermath of two 737 MAX 8 crashes in less than five months involving Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines. Since the March 10 fatal accident of Ethiopian’s Flight 302, a growing number of civil aviation authorities and airlines have grounded their MAX fleets. Australia and Singapore on March 12 followed China and Indonesia as well as individual airlines like Ethiopian, Aeromexico, Gol and Cayman Airways. U.S. carriers, Air Canada and European airlines, by contrast, continue to operate the type.
The Oct. 29 crash of Lion Air flight 610 appears to be linked to maintenance practices, erroneous speed data input to and pilot confusion about the handling of the maneuvering characteristics augmentation system (MCAS), a new flight control law introduced on the MAX. There is no indication so far that MCAS played a role in the March 10 Ethiopian accident. Both the flight data and cockpit voice recorder have been recovered but data analysis is yet to begin…..
Note….
While the above says airlines continue to fly the aircraft?
More continue to pull the type aircraft out of service as the media keeps asking questions on their front pages….
Update….
(You KNEW THIS was coming…The aircraft type is just about grounded worldwide)
Britain banned the Boeing 737 Max from its airspace on Tuesday, becoming the first European nation to place restrictions on the aircraft after an Ethiopian Airlines crash killed all 157 people aboard.
The country’s civil aviation authority said the move was a “precautionary measure” because it did not have sufficient information about the crash. Just five Max planes operate in Britain, but those operated by other carriers will no longer be allowed into its airspace.
After China ordered a dozen carriers to ground their 96 planes on Monday — roughly a quarter of all 737 Max in operation globally — authorities in Ethiopia, Singapore, Indonesia, Morocco and Mongolia quickly followed suit, as did carriers in Latin America and South Korea.
Australia, Malaysia and Oman became the latest countries to ground the model a day later, with authorities saying the aircraft would not be allowed to fly to or from their countries pending the investigation….
Full list: At least 33 countries ground Boeing’s MAX 8 jets
After two of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets crashed within 6 months, 33 countries and nearly 30 airlines have suspended operation of the fuel-efficient aircraft in the span of two days, the AP reports.
Driving the news: The European Union aviation authority banned flight operations of Boeing 737 Max jets, a huge blow to Boeing’s efforts to maintain the confidence of governments and airlines. The U.S. and Canada are still allowing the aircraft to operate until more information is available from the FAA.
The American FAA REFUSES to ground the Boeing 737 MAX 8 allowing the plane to fly only in American airspace….
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Airline pilots on at least two flights have reported that an automated system seemed to cause their Boeing planes to tilt down suddenly, the same problem suspected of contributing to a deadly crash in Indonesia.
The pilots said that soon after engaging the autopilot on Boeing 737 Max 8 planes, the nose tilted down sharply. In both cases, they recovered quickly after disconnecting the autopilot.
The Max 8 is the same plane at the center of a growing global ban by more than 40 countries following a second fatal crash, this time in Ethiopia, in less than five months. In the U.S., however, the Federal Aviation Administration and airlines continued to permit the planes to fly.
American Airlines and Southwest Airlines operate the 737 Max 8, and United Airlines flies a slightly larger version, the Max 9. All three carriers vouched for the safety of Max aircraft on Wednesday…
More….
More….
Pilots in the U.S. complained at least 5 times in recent months about problems controlling their Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets during critical moments of flight, federal records show, adding to questions raised by deadly crashes involving that model of jetliner in Ethiopia and Indonesia.
Some of the incidents appear to involve the same anti-stall system that has come up as a potential cause of October’s Indonesia crash, according to a review of a Federal Aviation Administration incident database that lets pilots self-report trouble. Investigators have not said whether the same technology had emerged as a possible cause of Sunday’s crash in Ethiopia, although both involved airliners that mysteriously plunged to the ground minutes after takeoff.
For one U.S. incident in November 2018, a commercial airline pilot reported that during takeoff, the autopilot was engaged and “within two to three seconds the aircraft pitched nose down,” in a manner steep enough to trigger the plane’s warning system, which sounded “Don’t sink, don’t sink!”
After the autopilot was disengaged, the plane climbed as normal, according to the report….
More….
Canada bans the Boeing 737 Max from its sky’s ….