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Boeing poised to start crucial 737 Max flight safety tests tomorrow
Boeing and the FAA are reportedly due to test-fly the 737 Max on June 29th after months of delays.
Boeing employees called designers of flawed Max 737 jets 'clowns'
In October of 2018, a Boeing 737 Max jet crashed into the Java Sea, killing everyone on board. Five months later, another crashed in Ethiopia, taking the lives of all passengers and crew. The tragedies caused aviation authorities across the globe to ground all 737 Max jets, and both Congress and the Federal Aviation Administration began investigations into how these accidents occurred. The Washington Post and The New York Times obtained over 100 pages of email and chat transcripts that were handed over to Congress as part of its investigation. The documents show that employees mocked the planes' designers, calling them "clowns, who in turn are supervised by monkeys," and had major concerns over the safety of the planes. Even before the first crash, one employee asked, "Would you put your family on a Max simulator trained aircraft?" "No," a colleague replied.
Crash investigators fault 737 Max's design and approval process
The Boeing 737 Max had design flaws that were made worse by inadequate pilot training and a faulty approval process that led to the Lion Air accident, Indonesian investigators concluded. Their report confirms multiple stories about Boeing's faulty MCAS control system, why pilots weren't properly trained on it and how it got approved in the first place, according to the Washington Post. The October 29, 2018 accident killed eight crew and 181 passengers.
Boeing messages hint staff may have misled FAA about 737 Max
There have already been signs that the 737 Max's fatal safety flaw may have stemmed from misunderstandings, and now investigators appear to have more tangible evidence of this. Boeing has confirmed to Reuters that it gave the FAA instant messages indicating that pilots may have misled regulators about the performance of the MCAS anti-stall technology linked to two deadly crashes. The company's then-serving chief technical pilot told another pilot that he had "basically lied" to the FAA about MCAS during the 737 Max's certification process, albeit "unknowingly." That's consistent with earlier New York Times claims that the chief technical pilot didn't fully understand the system.
Boeing reportedly left engineers, officials unaware of 737 Max changes
Boeing's overestimation of the 737 Max's safety may have been prompted in part by a simple but dangerous problem: many of the people involved weren't aware of the changes. The New York Times has claimed that some engineers, testers and regulators were unaware Boeing had made the jet's MCAS anti-stall system far more aggressive. They operated on the assumption the technology relied on two sensors when it was using just one, and a "compartmentalized approach" to development left key engineers without a full understanding of how the system worked.
Bird strike may have triggered software issue in second 737 Max crash
Investigators might know what triggered the software panic aboard an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max before its fatal crash, and it could be something Boeing considered months earlier. Unnamed officials talking to the Wall Street Journal claim that US aviation overseers "increasingly believe" that a bird collision may have sent flawed sensor data, leading to the jet's anti-stall code automatically pushing the nose down. Black box recordings show that a sensor was "sheared off" or otherwise broken soon after takeoff, experts said.
Boeing says its 737 Max software update is complete
Today, Boeing announced that it has completed the software update to its 737 Max planes. The update is meant to correct the software flaws that contributed to the Lion Air and Air Ethiopia crashes that killed 346 people in total. The update was expected in April, but Boeing needed extra time to guarantee that it had "identified and appropriately addressed" the problems that led to those crashes.
FAA 'tentatively' approves software fix for 737 Max jets
Boeing may be close to delivering its fix for the 737 Max's anti-stall system and preventing future tragedies. The Wall Street Journal has learned through documents and sources that the FAA has "tentatively" greenlit software and training updates pending some final simulation and real-world flight tests. They could make their way to airlines within a few weeks, according to the insiders, although there's still the possibility of last-minute revisions and changes to the timeline.
