Boeing wanted to wait 3 years to fix safety alert on 737 Max

Boeing planned to wait three years to fix a n-working safety alert on its 737 Max aircraft and sped up process only after first of two dely crashes involving planes.

company ackwledged that it originally planned to fix a cockpit warning light in 2020 after two key lawmakers disclosed company's timetable on June 7.

U.S. Reps. Peter DeFazio of Oregon and Rick Larsen of Washington wrote to Boeing and Federal Aviation ministration and asked why company took more than a year to tell safety ncy and airlines that alert did t work on Max jets.

feature, called an angle of attack or AoA alert, warns pilots when sensors measuring up-or-down pitch of plane's se relative to oncoming air might be wrong.

sensors malfunctioned during a Lion Air flight in Indonesia in October and an Ethiopian Airlines flight from dis Ababa in March, causing anti-stall software to push planes' ses down. Pilots were unable to regain control, and both planes crashed. In all, 346 people were killed.

It is t clear wher eir crash could have been prevented if cockpit alert h been working.

A Boeing spokesman said that based on a safety review, company h originally planned to fix cockpit warning when it began delivering a new, larger model of Max to airlines in 2020.

"We fell short in implementation of AoA Disagree alert and are taking steps to dress se issues so y do t occur again," said spokesman, Gordon Johndroe.

All Max jets will have alert as standard equipment before returning to service, and newly built planes will have it too, Johndroe said. 

Boeing delivered about 370 of planes before y were grounded around world in March.

RE | US Aviation Authorities Decide To Review Boeing 737 MAX Aircraft Due To Production Issues

Both Boeing and he of FAA say that alert is t critical for safety. Boeing says all its planes, including Max, give pilots all flight information  including speed, altitude and engine performance  that y need to fly safely.

pilots' union at American Airlines expressed unhappiness about matter, however, and said Boeing's assurance about cockpit alert was a factor in union standing behind Boeing after first Max crash, in October.

Jason Goldberg, an American Airlines pilot and union spokesman, said Boeing told pilots that alert could pinpoint a faulty sensor even on ground, before takeoff.

"That is one of things that me us confident initially to make statement that we were happy to continue to fly aircraft," he said. "It turned out later that that wasn't true." 

Boeing mitted in May that within months of plane's 2017 debut, engineers realised that sensor warning light only worked when paired with a separate, optional feature.

Boeing is revising its software, called MCAS, so that it will rely on reings from two sensors inste of one, and will be easier for pilots to overcome if it malfunctions. It is unclear when FAA will approve changes and allow Max to fly again. Regulators in or countries could take longer.

DeFazio and Larsen are leers of a House committee that is investigating crashes and FAA's regulation of Boeing. 

y said Friday that Boeing decided in vember 2017 to defer a software update to fix sensor alert feature until 2020 but accelerated that timeline after Lion Air crash.

Larsen questioned why Boeing didn't consider problem critical to safety.

FAA on Friday repeated a statement it me last month that Boeing briefed ncy's Seattle office about n-working alert in vember, and matter was forwarded to an FAA review board which considered matter to be "low risk." 

Last month, acting FAA ministrator Daniel Elwell told DeFazio's and Larsen's committee that he wasn't happy Boeing waited 13 months to tell ncy about problem.

"We will make sure that software amalies are reported more quickly," he said. 

RE | Boeing Conducts 'final Test' Of 737 MAX With Software Update, Says It's Making Stey Progress Towards Certification