Yes, when in doubt one should always try to err on the side of caution. Major countries all over the world decided to do just that, and grounded the Boeing 737 MAX, but the US FAA prefers to err on the side of risk, by still permitting this plane to be in the sky. This presents a risk not only to the passengers and crew onboard, but also to civilians on the ground, should a plane crash into a populated area. We had two crashes of this type of aircraft killing many people, the last two months, but the FAA and airlines operating this type of plane are willing to risk the lives of their customers, and possibly other on the ground. Why? Surely these gamblers will not fly any of these planes; actually, we should force them to fly these birds, to show their confidence in their decision.
Apparently, Boeing is tinkering with an anti-stall algorithm for this plane, and from what I have experienced with other, so called, software improvements, they seldom are. Perhaps, instead of preventing a stall, it may be causing a stall.
Ref. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-47536502
We, as a country, clearly show that human life takes second place after the dollar. Shame on us!
Some of us are certainly a stubborn bunch. Please follow the link below.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bbc.com/news/business-47548083
Finally, Boeing is working on a software update to prevent another crash.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bbc.com/news/business-47583108
Update on Boeing action regarding its software.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bbc.com/news/business-47622721
The problem with these autopilot systems is, the pilots rely too much on it, and forget how to fly the planes, as a result of it.
According to the BBC, "Earlier this week, Boeing said that the upgrades were not an admission that the system had caused the crashes."
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bbc.com/news/business-47759966
Boeing's denial is typical lawyer B.S.! Somebody needs to go to jail; the second crash was preventable, by grounding all planes. Of course they were gambling with the lives of passengers and crews, and not their own.
Here is a very good article, which explains that the software issue arose only while fixing an engine mounting design problem. Boeing failed to ensure Pilots understood that the 737 MAX was not like the old 737 planes, and had to be managed differently.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.vox.com/business-and-finance/2019/3/29/18281270/737-max-faa-scandal-explained
As more news becomes available, it is clear that the anti-stall software/system was faulty. As usual, now they know how to fix it, after many lives were lost. A proper Failure Mode Analysis, during the design stage would have prevented this. Let the public suffer the consequences for taking shortcuts.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bbc.com/news/business-47812225
For those who wish to become familiar with the failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA), follow this link.
ReplyDeletehttps://quality-one.com/fmea/
More damning news! Shame on Boeing!!! It will cost them dearly. We are dealing here with criminal negligence.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.cnn.com/2019/05/05/us/boeing-737-max-disagree-alert/index.html
Besides the technical aspect of this problem is the fact that we no longer have pilots but only Airplane Operators, in many cases, who when push comes to shove, can no longer fly a plane manually. An experienced pilot would have disabled the faulty system and took command of the aircraft. The FAA is also to blame; they received 216 fault notifications and did nothing. At the end the President had to ground all 737 MAX planes. Did anybody get fired? I heard nothing.
ReplyDeleteThe latest loss of 41 lives, most likely due to Pilot error (Russian Plane), adds validity to the foregoing comment. The problem is, as always, pilots lose their ability to fly manually because of the autopilot usage; others may never had great skill to start with.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48185786
A good article in line with the topic of this Blog post. It explains how Boeing got to this point, where human lives mean very little, at best.
ReplyDeletehttps://newrepublic.com/article/154944/boeing-737-max-investigation-indonesia-lion-air-ethiopian-airlines-managerial-revolution?utm_source=pocket-newtab
I forgot, there is also an audio link to this article, so you can save your eyes, since it is a rather long but informative story.
DeleteOur Senators are stating the obvious. It will be interesting to see what, if anything, comes out of that.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bbc.com/news/business-50225025