[Peetwo]

Tick Tock Boeing??

APA safety committee chairman Mike Michaelis said it was “pretty asinine for (Boeing) to put a system on an aeroplane and not tell the pilots operating that aeroplane, especially when it deals with flight controls”.

The accident investigation certainly has morphed in the past 2 weeks. Started out looking like a potential deliberate destruction of the aircraft to Boeing issuing an emergency AD. The CVR should reveal the final pieces when it’s found. Still too early to say what the cause might be but I reckon Boeing has its legal eagles on short finals.

“Aviation regulations are written in blood”

Flight JT610 - 21 Nov 2018: Boeing goes on the defence on JT610. 

Via the Oz yesterday:

Boeing takes aim at 737 flak

ROBYN IRONSIDE

Boeing’s CEO says suggestions it intentionally withheld info about a new system on the 737 Max aircraft were “simply untrue”.


Boeing’s CEO has described as “simply untrue” any suggestion the aircraft manufacturer “intentionally withheld” information about a new automated system on the 737 Max.

In a message to employees, Dennis Muilenburg said the manoeuvring characteristics augmentation system (MCAS) was described in the flight crew operations manual.

Information about the possible role of MCAS in the crash of a Lion Air 737 Max 8 on October 29, sparked a concerned reaction from Indonesia, as well as Southwest and American Airlines’ pilots that they had been unaware of the system.

In an email to members after an emergency airworthiness directive was issued by the Federal Aviation Administration, the Allied Pilots Association said “this was the first description, you as 737 pilots, have seen (about the MCAS)”.

“It is not in the American Airlines 737 Flight Manual Part 2, nor is there a description in the Boeing manual. It will be soon.”

APA safety committee chairman Mike Michaelis went further, suggesting it was “pretty asinine for (Boeing) to put a system on an aeroplane and not tell the pilots operating that aeroplane, especially when it deals with flight controls”.

But Mr Muilenburg said the relevant function of MCAS was described in the flight training manual.

“We routinely engage with customers about how to operate our aircraft safely,” said the message to employees.

He said Boeing continued to co-operate with the Lion Air investigation, ahead of the release of a preliminary report due next week.

“Regardless of the outcome, we’re going to learn from this accident and continue to improve our safety record,” Mr Muilenburg said.

“However, we will not share or debate details in the media. It’s not appropriate and would violate the integrity of the investigation.”

The MCAS has been described as an automated stall prevention system, that issues nose down commands in response to high angle of attack readings.

The FAA directive warned that if the proper procedures were not followed, the commands could send the aircraft into a steep dive and result in a crash.

The cause of the Lion Air crash that killed all 189 people on board, is unknown.

MTF...P2