Published 11:03 IST, March 10th 2020
Boeing didn't provide sufficient training for 737 MAX: Ethiopia crash report
Ethiopian investigators issued a report of last year's Ethiopian Airlines crash and found that Boeing did not provide sufficient pilot training for the 737 MAX.
The Ethiopian investigators issued a report of last year's Ethiopian Airlines crash and found that Boeing did not provide sufficient pilot training for the 737 MAX. According to the recent interim report, Boeing's crucial flight software was also flawed and the design of the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) 'made it vulnerable to undesirable activation'. The 2019 crash killed all 157 people on board and further triggered the global grounding of the MAX in the worst crisis in Boeing's history.
The Nairobi-bound Boeing 737 MAX reportedly crashed six minutes after takeoff on March 10, 2019. It also followed the October 2018 crash of a 737 MAX operated by Lion Air in Indonesia, which killed 189 people. According to the reports, both accidents saw uncontrolled drops in the aircraft's nose in the moments before the plane crashed and the investigators have blamed the crash on the model's MCAS.
Furthermore, the report also points out to the fact that the MCAS could be activated by a single angle-of-attack sensor reading, which measures the plane's angle vis-a-vis oncoming air to warn of impending stalls. The report also suggests that training provided by Boeing on the 737 MAX 'was found to be inadequate'. It also recommends that training simulators need to be capable of simulating scenarios in which the sensor fails.
'Fundamentally flawed'
Earlier this week, US aviation regulators had also asked Boeing to rewire all their 737 MAX aircraft before allowing the troubled aircraft to fly again. According to reports, regulators have concluded that the wiring layout of their 737 MAX aircraft violates safety standards. The order to modify the wiring on planes would apply to almost 800 737 MAX aircraft that have already been produced and even those that have been handed over to airlines.
As per reports, the aircraft manufacturer Boeing claimed that they were discussing the wiring issue with regulators and that they expected the planes to return to service by mid-2020. In February, a US congressional report accused Boeing of brushing off the concerns of engineers and released a 'fundamentally flawed' aircraft. The reports also claimes that the Federal Aviation Authority had failed in its duty to exercise oversight of the company and that it ignored warnings about the safety standards of the aircraft from its own experts.
Updated 11:03 IST, March 10th 2020