May 5, 2019 – In Breaking News – Bloomberg
Boeing Co. knew months before a deadly 737 Max crash that a cockpit alert wasn’t working the way the company had told buyers of the single-aisle jetliner.
But the planemaker didn’t share its findings with airlines or the Federal Aviation Administration until after a Lion Air plane went down off the coast of Indonesia in October, according to a Boeing statement Sunday.
The accident occurred after erroneous readings by a single angle-of-attack sensor triggered software that pushed the jet’s nose down until pilots lost control.
(A CNN investigation of the Boeing 737 Max aircraft uncovers a history of issues with one component being blamed for two deadly crashes. Boeing insists nothing is wrong with the design, blaming pilots for not following proper procedure. Courtesy of CNN and YouTube. Posted on Apr 30, 2019.)
Boeing’s latest disclosure raises new questions about the 737 Max’s development and testing — and the company’s lack of transparency.
The alert was supposed to flash when two angle-of-attack vanes sent conflicting data about the relation of the plane’s nose to the oncoming air stream.
Boeing had told airlines and pilots that the so-called AOA disagree warning was standard across the Max fleet, as on a previous generation of 737 jets.
(Aviation Expert Phyl Durdey discusses the rate of speed involved in the Ethiopian Airlines crash, what else we know about the accident and growing concerns about the Boeing 737 MAX 8. Courteesy of CTV and YouTube. Posted on Mar 11, 2019.)
The software delivered to Boeing linked the signal with a second cockpit gauge — available for a fee — that displayed the readings from the two vanes.
As a result, the AOA disagree light, which warned pilots of issues with the sensors, functioned only for customers that purchased the optional indicator.
“The question I have is just like we asked them in Reno, ‘Is that all there is?’ That’s the biggest question,” said Jon Weaks, head of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, referring to a meeting union leaders had with Boeing after the Lion Air crash.
“It’s obviously troubling that here is something else Boeing didn’t get to us.”
FAA Criticism
The inactive alert was later deemed to be “low risk” by the FAA’s Corrective Action Review Board, the regulator said Sunday.
“However, Boeing’s timely or earlier communication with the operators would have helped to reduce or eliminate possible confusion,” the FAA said.
(The NTSB is investigating why a Boeing 737 plane arriving from the Guantanamo Bay military station in Cuba with 143 people aboard went off the runway and into the St. Johns River in Florida. The plane carrying 143 people and traveling from Cuba to north Florida ended up in a river at the end of a runway Friday night. No critical injuries or deaths have been reported. Courtesy of Fox News and YouTube. Posted on May 4, 2019.)
Continue reading… Boeing Left Airlines, FAA in Dark on Alert Linked to 737 Crashes
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