Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Chief Steve Dickson conducted a nearly two-hour evaluation flight at the controls of a Boeing 737 MAX on Wednesday (September 30), a milestone for the jet to win approval to resume flying after two fatal crashes. Dickson, a former military and commercial pilot, and other FAA and Boeing pilots landed shortly before 11 a.m. local time (1800 GMT) at King County International Airport - also known as Boeing Field - in the Seattle area. "I like what I saw on… (www.yahoo.com) さらに...
Aircraft systems malfunctions have been around for years and through accident/incident investigation, good procedures were developed and shortcomings fixed at the factory or crew training level.. Boeing found out the hard way when you mess with thrust vector and aerodynamics and fail to develop a clear understanding of the “what if” scenario, things go bad in a hurry? I seriously doubt whether a majority of pilots could manage to decently fly a stretch DC-8-63 around in IFR conditions shooting an ADF approach while in Manual Reversion on three engines? and that was the F/O’s prof ride, the Captain lost two on rotation on the same side....that was fun!
Feels like they’re now over reacting the other way. FAA did miss a lot in the cert, but they were not the only cause and seem to be over compensating.
Not looking to debate the crashes, or MCAS, but we all know there is a standard procedure for runaway trim since the 737-200adv and lack of understanding that played a huge roll.
There was recently an "incident" where a 737-500 crew had problems with instrument flight and declared an emergency after their autopilot(s) failed. That's it, just the A/P, everything else was working fine. Yes Boeing and the FAA obviously made mistakes, but you can't idiot proof a commercial airplane, you still need a qualified and competent crew as a last line of defense.
If you want to add new automation to a plane, you need to do it the right way. Boeing went cheap, and had an FAA that wasn't watching what they were doing.
are you thinking instead about the JAL dc-8-63 that did a water landing just short of the runway,that was plucked out of the bay by cranes, towed to United Airlines overhaul base, completely rebuilt, then returned to service? that one???? It was easily towed because the gear was down as the plane hit the water, and remained down. DIdn't sink down very far in San Francisco Bay....
Jal 2 Ja8032 was the tail number. It landed 2.5 miles short of the runway, was hoisted out of the water 55 hours later with only a sheared off right wheel towed to Uniteds Hanger who rebuilt it for $4,000,000 and giving to back to Jal and was in service with Jal and several airlines until it was scrapped in 2001.
Why declare an emergency. Is the autopilot really that essential? Seems like they could turn it off and manually fly it to destination, or do they teach manual flying anymore.
I see no comments about whether the Ethiopian and Indonesian airlines included the training for the feature that failed to cause their crashes. There is training for proper operation of that feature that includes procedures if that feature fails. Asking for a friend.
Wasn't there some training around this that wasn't included as part of the cheaper package those airlines bought? Maybe that's what he was talking about...
Thought exactly the same as well! Opened the article wondering what the continued concern was, and instead read "things are moving forward, process isn't over yet." Sheesh.
It's not just the FAA and Boeing trying to get a plane in the air. It is now a matter of winning back worldwide trust. The two were the world bench mark for aircraft and aircraft safety. Their image took a beating and other countries and manufacturers have stepped up and taken their place in the minds of the customers. No country now wants to have to explain why they bought American Boeing after a future accident. They are going to have to over compensate in today's competitive market to win back trust.
No, a 6 second window to respond to a single sensor error led to these events. Boeing's design and obfuscation killed half again as many people as were killed in the Beirut blast.
I really do think the FAA wants all the issues resolved in this aircraft. And yes, we have mountains yet to climb to overcome the PR disaster that still exists due to Boeing management's failure to proceed with engineering and safety in mind and not just the all mighty dollar.
Now Boeing has a new crisis on their hands wanting to move the 787 line exclusively to South Carolina. Everyone in Everett and in the State capital (especially the Governor) are POed at Boeing management wanting to make this move.
The way the state of Washington & city of Seattle are in now, can’t say that I blame Boeing & other businesses for wanting to leave ASAP. My understanding the WA Governor is pro green, anti business & isn’t willing to compromise. Let them wither away along w/the rest of the Left Coast.
boeing has lucked out here, in a small sense, for given the backlog on 737MAX, no carrier wants to take delivery of the max off the construction line, because they don't need it, and they already have plenty max's in storage in various deserts. No cash is coming in off the 737 line- not a good thing.
So now the FAA is going to defer to the opinion of a Pilot that is not current on any of the A/C in the series just because he is a political appointee. What does that say to all the Professionals who work in the agency and managements confidence in them doing their job.
glad to see the FAA becoming less of a butt boy to boeing, in that boeing has been made to wait, perhaps annoyingly, for the FAA to approve and recertify the Boeing Bucking BRonco, 737 MAX. Because it is only passenger and crew safety at stake, and we have the reassurances of both Boeing and nearly have the FAA on board so to speak, give FAA the benefit of the doubt and let us all await approval, then the europeans get to play delay games too. I do not know what i have to hear from FAA or Boeing for me to have warm fuzzy thoughts about flying in the 737 Max, but i would feel ever so much better if on my flight i noticed several FAA and Boeing representatives, cheerful, not sweating, not dowing lots of cocktails..... Also the pilots not downing lots of cocktails.......
Like a friend of mine in the mid-eighties said: The safest time to fly is right after a crash, or series of crashes. I was lamenting about my fear of flying, and he told the story of landing in China, OVER a crash. He said they could see the flames, and people running around in the glare of the flames. Afterwards, rules, he said, were tightened in China, and even Chinese nationals commented that their government only reacted constructively after accidents and when industry luck eventually ran out.
So, the FAA saying they aren't 'gung-ho' to blanket certify the MAX is on many levels. They were caught trusting the industry that they are charged with regulating. That alone should have cost the FAA dearly, but it hasn't, by and large. The leadership at both the FAA and Congress should have been called to report for their malfeasance, and, well, that really didn't happen, but the FAA has a lot to answer for, irregardless of Congress. They have a far too close relationship to the corporations and carriers they are supposed to be regulating. That cozy relationship still exists, I'd wager.
The troubling aspect of this 'Cozy Regulation' relationship should give every American heartburn. How many other agencies are 'in bed' with their regulated industries. The FAA was caught with lipstick on their collar, and flowers on their pillow, and Boeing exploited that relationship to the limits. There are accusations of the same kind of cozy regulation happening at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The guys who are supposed to regulate the nuclear power industry, and the many research labs, and producers. So, do we wait until we have a Fukishima, or Cernobyl before we demand that Congress stick their hand in between the lips of the industry and regulator passionate kisses?
Regulator capture is common in many administrations, but seem to happen with regularity in GOP administrations. They being so hungry for money they shirk their duty to protect US and work to protect THEMSELVES from voters.
VOTE!!! Vote like your life depends on it, because it really does.
The NRC still takes its job seriously. I know first hand. I worked for a company that built sub-modules for 2 nuclear plant expansion projects, that were going in the containment vessel. They had to pay the fines that the original company brought upon the project due to production not taking quality seriously and creating a chilling effect on those who were supposed to do inspections. At least when I was there, quality was paramount
The company I was working for had to pay the fines due to buying the original company's manufacturing site for the sub-modules.
RENTON, Wash., March 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Boeing (NYSE: BA) announced today that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has certified the 737 MAX 8 airplane for commercial service. Boeing is now in the final stages of preparing for the first 737 MAX 8 delivery to customers in the coming months.
Seriously? If you and others insist on making this a political issue, then consider that the vast majority of 737 Max testing and evaluation went on during the Obama administration, which had been in charge of the FAA for the previous 8 years. In March 2017, the Trump administration had literally been in power for less than 2 months.
I was with you up until the last 2 lines, where you once again try to blame everything bad that happens on the Republicans. Do you really believe that Democrats are any less corrupt than Republicans? Are you really that naive? For the record, I don't really like either Presidential candidate, but you should do a Google search for "Biden brother Iraq housing contract", "Biden son China deal", and "Biden son Ukraine Burisma". I'm not picking on him, but he is the Democrat candidate for President so we must put the spotlight on him right now. In fact, most politicians are selfish, opportunistic leeches who use their positions to benefit themselves and their friends and family.
I agree that the faa is over reacting. This is just a publicity stunt on part of the FAA. If you’ve had any dealings with these guys, it’s more about paperwork than functionality. They are professional bureaucrats. As far as the crashes go, they happened with poorly trained airlines. One of the crashes had already discovered problems with the trim, but dispatched it anyway with a new crew.