Boeing to make safety feature standard on troubled Max jets - Phys.org
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Boeing to make safety feature standard on
troubled Max jets
22 March 2019, by David Koenig And Tom Krisher
deadly crash this month in Ethiopia.
The cause of the accidents has not been
determined, but investigators probing the crash of a
Lion Air Max jet have focused on an automated
system designed to use information from two
sensors to help prevent a dangerous aerodynamic
stall.
The sensors measure whether the plane is pointed
up, down or level in relation to the direction of
onrushing air. Software on the Max can push the
plane's nose down if data from one of the sensors
indicates the plane is tilted up so sharply that it
could stall and fall from the sky.
In this March 21, 2018, file photo a Thai Lion Air In the Lion Air case, the sensors malfunctioned and
employee displays a ceremonial key to the company's gave wildly conflicting information, and the plane
newest plane, Boeing's first 737 MAX 9 jet, following a crashed minutes after takeoff. A preliminary report
delivery ceremony to the airline in Seattle. The United described a grim fight by the pilots to control the
States and many other countries have grounded the Max plane as it pitched downward more than two dozen
8s and larger Max 9s as Boeing faces the challenge of times.
proving the jets are safe to fly amid suspicions that faulty
sensors and software contributed to the two crashes in
It is not known whether the same flight-control
less than five months. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)
system played a role in the March 10 crash of the
Ethiopian Airlines jet shortly after takeoff from Addis
Ababa, but regulators say both planes had similar
Boeing will make standard on its troubled new erratic flight paths, an important part of their
airliner a safety feature that might have helped the decision to ground the roughly 370 Max planes
crew of a jet that crashed shortly after takeoff last around the world.
year in Indonesia, killing everyone on board.
The Lion Air plane also lacked another optional
The equipment, which had been offered as an feature: gauges or displays that would let pilots see
option, alerts pilots of faulty information from key at a glance the up-or-down direction of the plane's
sensors. It will now be included on every 737 Max nose. It was unclear whether such "angle of attack"
as part of changes that Boeing is rushing to or AOA gauges will also become standard
complete on the jets by early next week, according equipment on the Max.
to two people familiar with the changes.
The people spoke on condition of anonymity
because Boeing and federal regulators are still
discussing details of the upgrade to the Max fleet,
which was grounded worldwide after a second
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Boeing 737. The Max is different because flight-
control software called MCAS can pitch the nose
down based on readings from a single AOA sensor.
Max jets flown by Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines
lacked both the sensor-disagreement warning and
AOA gauges, according to the New York Times,
which first reported Boeing's decision to make the
warning standard. Boeing declined to comment on
details of customer orders.
The average list price for a 737 Max 8 is $121.6
million, according the company's website, although
airlines routinely receive deep discounts. Boeing
charges extra for additional features but won't
discuss those numbers, calling it valuable
In this Monday, March 11, 2019 file photo, a Boeing 737 proprietary information.
MAX 8 airplane being built for TUI Group sits parked in
the background at right at Boeing Co.'s Renton Assembly
Plant in Renton, Wash. The Transportation Department
Low-cost carriers such as Indonesia's Lion Air may
confirmed that its watchdog agency will examine how the be more likely than the larger airlines to turn down
FAA certified the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft, the now- options to save money.
grounded plane involved in two fatal accidents within five
months. The FAA had stood by the safety of the plane up
until last Wednesday, March 13, 2019 despite other
countries grounding it. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
Boeing declined to say why the options were not
standard equipment sooner.
American Airlines has both options on its Boeing
737s. Dennis Tajer, a Boeing 737 captain for
American and spokesman for its pilots' union, said
he could not understand why Boeing would make
the alert system standard but not do the same with
the gauges.
In this March 13, 2019, file photo people work in the flight
"Anyone who suggests that we should just have deck of a Boeing 737 MAX 8 airplane being built for TUI
one of those two items—the alert and not the AOA Group parked next to another MAX 8 also designated for
gauges—is not embracing giving pilots all the TUI at Boeing Co.'s Renton Assembly Plant in Renton,
information they should have," he said. Wash. U.S. prosecutors are looking into the development
of Boeing's 737 Max jets, a person briefed on the matter
Tajer said the plane can be flown safely without the revealed Monday, the same day French aviation
investigators concluded there were "clear similarities" in
gauges—most small planes don't have them—"but it's
the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines Max 8 last week and a
a broader margin of safety if you've got it." Lion Air jet in October. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, file)
Pilots often rely on separate sensors measuring
airspeed to determine if they are in danger of
stalling. That is true of the earlier models of the Since both Max crashes involved foreign airlines,
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and U.S. and Canadian carriers have had little more pilot training, whether it is done on a simulator,
trouble, problems may have arisen with pilot a computer or an iPad, which is becoming more
training in developing countries, said John Goglia, a common at airlines.
former member of the U.S. National Transportation
Safety Board and an expert in aircraft maintenance.
Many airlines, he said, buy training programs from
third-party vendors and not from Boeing because
Boeing's program costs more. Boeing's training
also requires many hours of pilot work, which some
airlines don't want.
The CEO of Ethiopian Airlines said Thursday that
the carrier's pilots went through all the extra training
required by Boeing and the U.S. Federal Aviation
Administration to fly the 737 Max 8 jet that crashed.
The accident killed 157 people from 35 countries.
Tewolde Gebremariam said the training was meant
to help crews shift from an older model of the 737
to the Max 8, which entered airline service in 2017. In this March 14, 2019, file photo a worker walks next to
In a statement, he said pilots were also made a Boeing 737 MAX 8 airplane parked at Boeing Field in
aware of an emergency directive issued by the FAA Seattle. U.S. prosecutors are looking into the
after the Lion Air crash, which killed 189 people. development of Boeing's 737 Max jets, a person briefed
on the matter revealed Monday, the same day French
aviation investigators concluded there were "clear
The New York Times reported that the pilots of the
similarities" in the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines Max 8
Ethiopian plane never trained in a simulator for the last week and a Lion Air jet in October. (AP Photo/Ted S.
plane. Gebremariam said that the 737 Max Warren, File)
simulator is not designed to imitate problems in the
new jet's flight-control software. He declined to say
whether the pilots had trained on the simulator.
William Waldock, a professor of safety science at
After the Lion Air accident, Boeing reminded pilots Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, said it is
of the process for stopping the plane's automatic essential that pilots get simulator training on
nose-down tilt, including flipping two cutoff switches handling a failure of the anti-stall system.
near the pilot's knees. That procedure is
unchanged from earlier 737s, and pilots are "If they want to put the Max back into service, they
expected to know it. have got to get that system so that whatever you
are training is what you are going to experience in a
John Hansman, an aeronautics professor at the real flight," he said.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said the
Ethiopian Airlines pilots clearly struggled to control A spokesman for CAE, the world's leading maker of
the plane and might have been too preoccupied to flight simulators, said the company has sold about
realize whether the anti-stall system was 40 Max simulators. U.S. airlines expect to begin
malfunctioning. receiving them late this year.
"All you know is the airplane is not flying correctly. A spokesman for the FAA declined to say whether
You're trying to figure it out at the same time you're the agency would require new, additional training
trying to fly an airplane, which is difficult," Hansman for pilots in Max simulators before it lets the planes
said. He believes the crashes show the need for resume flying.
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APA citation: Boeing to make safety feature standard on troubled Max jets (2019, March 22) retrieved 4
April 2019 from https://phys.org/news/2019-03-boeing-safety-feature-standard-max.html
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