[Peetwo]

Flight #ET302 Update: 13/03/19

FORT FUMBLE BUYS INTO THE 737 MAX DEBACLE

“The Civil Aviation Safety Authority's director of aviation safety, Shane Carmody, said in a statement that the temporary suspension of Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes in Australia was in the best interests ( P7 - based on the evidence he has - what ducking evidence? Show it or STFU_ ) of safety”.

I can imagine that Mc’Do’Nothing will be on TV soon trying to cash in on how safe his country is with a proactive Regulator in control. F...wits

Boeing 737 MAX 8 operations suspended in Australia after Ethiopian Airlines crash


PHOTO 
The crash in Ethiopia was the second in six months for the 737 MAX 8.
AP: MULUGETA AYENE

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https://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-1...a/10894426

Tsk tsk. CAsA will simply do anything to ground aircraft operations. Empty skies are safe skies.

Further to above, via the Oz:

US puts money above safety in flying Boeing’s 737 Max 8 jet

The United States aviation sector appears to have shamefully put money and corporate interests above safety with its decision not to temporarily ground the 737 Max 8 jet.

Commonsense dictates that when two planes of the same model crash in strikingly similar circumstances within the space of five months then the need for immediate precaution trumps the need for proof.

That is why the twin tragedies of the combined loss of more than 300 lives in Indonesia’s Lion Air crash last year and this week’s Ethiopian Airlines disaster has the shocked most of the world’s aviation industry into action.

Today Britain, France, Germany and the EU joined Australia, China, Indonesia, Ethiopia and others in temporarily grounding or banning Boeing’s 737 Max 8 until they can be persuaded that the plane is safe.

They know that it is too early to know whether the two crashes were caused by the same issue. But as the UK Civil Aviation Authority put it: “Given the similarity of the two accidents, it has been decided that as a precautionary measure that all” 737 Max flights “should stop until appropriate safeguards are in place.’

So why has the US not adopted a similar ‘precautionary measure’ to ground its own 737 Max 8s which are currently operated by both Southwest and American airlines?

The United States Federal Aviation Administration has chosen instead to take a strictly evidence-based approach to the problem, stating that “If we identify an issue that affects safety, the FAA will take immediate and appropriate action.’

One might think that the unexplained loss of two of the same model jets, shortly after takeoff with similar erratic flying patterns was ‘an issue that affected safety’ even if the specific cause cannot yet be proved.

The trouble with the evidence-first approach is that complete investigations of airline crashes can take years. Even the initial findings can take months. The travelling public doesn’t want to wait that long to learn about a potential deadly flaw on a plane they are likely to travel on. Already in the US, passengers have been calling airlines to try to get off flights which are using the 737 Max 8. Most have been refused refunds.

Boeing, which stands to lose billions of dollars by any global grounding of the Max 8 model of its jet has refused to take the lead, instead maintaining that ‘we are confident in the safety of the 737 Max.’

The FAA has said only that it will mandate ‘design changes’ to the aircraft by April and Boeing has promised that a software update in the coming weeks will ‘make an already safe aircraft even safer.’

So, barring a sudden change of heart by the FAA or Boeing, passengers in the US will be faced with the prospect of flying on the 737 Max 8 before any software update becomes available and before the causes of the Ethiopian crash are known.

US aerospace giant Boeing is trying to avoid a business nightmare here. The Max model of its 737 represents about two-thirds of Boeing’s future deliveries and about 40 per cent of its profit. It is one of the most important parts of the company’s business.

In the US the Max 8 model is flown by Southwest, which has 34 of them and by American Airlines which has 24. The FAA knows that grounding the 737 Max 8 in the US would badly hurt Boeing, impact the reputation of the US airline industry and would severely disrupt the domestic operations and profits of two of the country’s major carriers.

So, yes, the stakes are higher for the US to ground the 737 Max 8 than they are for many other countries.

But money and corporate interests should not lead the US to ignore the rest of the world on the issue.

Australians should be relieved they live in a country where the aviation industry takes safety more seriously than profit.

Boeing 737 Max 8: US pressured to ground jet

The United States is under enormous pressure to follow the rest of the world in grounding Boeing’s 737 Max 8 jet after Australia, Britain and the European Union joined at least 10 other countries in suspending flights.

The United States Federal Aviation Administration, the planes manufacturer Boeing and the two US airlines that use the 737 Max 8, Southwest and American Airlines, maintains there is no reason yet to ground the jet.

However, pressure came even from the White House, with Donald Trump tweeting that “airplanes were becoming far too complex to fly”.

“Pilots are no longer needed, but rather computer scientists from MIT. I see it all the time in many products,” he said.

“Always seeking to go one unnecessary step further, when often old and simpler is far better. Split second decisions are needed, and the complexity creates danger. All this cost for very little gain.

“I don’t want Albert Einstein to be my pilot. I want great flying professionals that are allowed to easily and quickly take control of a plane.”

Concerns about the safety of the 737 Max 8 spread across the globe in recent days after the second crash of a new 737 Max 8 in less than six months.

The crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max 8 shortly after take off this week followed the crash of an Indonesian Lion Air 737 Max 8 last year with the combined loss of more than 300 passengers.

Australia, China, Indonesia and Ethiopia were among the countries that quickly grounded or banned 737 Max 8 jets until further investigation. Today they were joined by Britain, German, France and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, among others.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority said the similarity between the two accidents — in which both planes crashed shortly after takeoff after experiencing highly irregular flying patterns — dictated that no 737 Max jets should operate in British airspace until safeguards were in place.

“Given the similarity of the two accidents, it has been decided that as a precautionary measure that all” 737 Max flights “should stop until appropriate safeguards are in place. This is needed to assure the [UK Civil Aviation Authority] that the aircraft involved are fully compliant with internationally recognised standards,” the agency stated.

A worldwide grounding of the popular 737 Max 8, one of the news versions of the hugely popular 737 aircraft, would have a devastating financial impact on Boeing, whose share price has been savaged in recent days.

The company has so far refused to recommended the grounding of its aircraft, claiming that the plane is safe.

“Safety is Boeing’s number one priority and we have full confidence in the safety of the 737 Max,” Boeing said in a statement. “We understand that regulatory agencies and customers have made decisions that they believe are most appropriate for their home markets. We’ll continue to engage with them to ensure they have the information needed to have confidence in operating their fleets.’

The US FAA has so far refused calls, including by some members of Congress, to ground the planes, saying “this investigation has just begun and to date we have not been provided data to draw any conclusions or take any actions”.

SouthWest and American airlines have also not grounded their fleets of 737 Max 8 jets, saying that their pilot training is good enough for pilots to deal with any emergency like the one that caused Indonesia’s Lion Air to crash last year.

The Lion Air crash is believed to be linked to a faulty sensor and automatic feature on the Max 8 model which automatically pointed the nose of a plane down, overriding efforts by the pilot to make the plane climb.

Airspace bans for B-737 Max 8

• Australia
• China
• All European Union countries
• India
• Indonesia
• Malaysia
• Namibia
• Oman
• Singapore

Airlines to ground B-737 Max 8 
• Aerolineas
• Argentinas
• Aeromexico
• Cayman Airways
• Comair
• Eastar Jet
• Ethiopian Airlines
• Gol Airlines
• Icelandair
• LOT
• MIAT Mongolian Airlines
• Norwegian Air Shuttle
• Smartwings
• Turkish Airlines

CASA announces Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets are banned in Australia

Fiji Airways has been banned from flying its Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft in or out of Australia as concerns grow about the safety of the plane following two fatal crashes in five months.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority yesterday imposed a temporary ban on all 737 Max 8 operations to and from Australia in “the best interests of safety”.

Singapore’s SilkAir also operates the aircraft to Australia but yesterday the airline grounded its fleet of 737 Max 8s until safety concerns were addressed.

Since October 29 last year, 346 people have died in two crashes involving near-new 737 Max 8s — one operated by Lion Air in Indonesia and one in ­Ethiopia.

Both crashes occurred minutes after take-off, with the pilots requesting to turn back because of difficulty controlling the aircraft.

The second crash, on Sunday, prompted several countries, including China, Indonesia and Singapore, to ground the aircraft and ban 737 Max 8s from flying in their countries.

CASA yesterday decided Australia should follow suit, despite the US regulator declaring the plane to be safe.

The US Federal Aviation ­Administration issued a “continued airworthiness notification to the international community” in an effort to quell concerns about the 737 Max 8.

CASA chief executive Shane Carmody said in light of the two recent fatal accidents, the temporary suspension of Boeing 737 Max aircraft operations was the best response. “This is a temporary suspension while we wait for more information to review the safety risks of continued operations of the Boeing 737 Max to and from Australia,” he said.

“CASA regrets any inconvenience to passengers but ­believes it is important to always put safety first.”

No Australian airlines operate the 737 Max 8 but Virgin Australia has 30 of the planes on order, with the first scheduled to arrive this year.

Yesterday, a spokesman for Virgin Australia said the Nov­ember delivery date would allow sufficient time to consider the outcome of crash investigations, and to reassess if necessary.

AeroMexico also grounded its Max 8 fleet yesterday and India issued an order that pilots flying the aircraft must have more than 1000 hours of flying experience.

Such sweeping bans on a particular model of aircraft have not been seen since 2013, when airlines temporarily stopped operating Boeing 787 Dreamliners because of concerns over lithium-ion batteries in the auxiliary power unit.

In an email to staff, Boeing chief executive Dennis Muilenburg said he was confident in the safety of the 737 Max.

“Since its certification and entry into service, the Max family has completed hundreds of thousands of flights safely,” he said.

The FAA airworthiness notification revealed Boeing had been ordered to make design changes to the aircraft by April, and update training requirements and flight-crew manuals.

All the changes relate to the controversial MCAS, or manoeuvring characteristics augmentation system, which is central to the investigation into last year’s Lion Air crash off Indonesia.

The preliminary report on the crash found the pilot struggled to control the aircraft as the MCAS issued nose-down orders in response to erroneous angle-of-­attack sensor data.

It is not known whether the MCAS was activated in Sunday’s crash near Addis Ababa.

Investigators have recovered the voice and data recorders from the jet and Boeing, the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA are supporting investigative authorities in Ethiopia.

A preliminary report is expected next month.

 
"Australians should be relieved they live in a country where the aviation industry takes safety more seriously than profit..."  FDS where the hell do they find these journos these days?

"..CASA chief executive Shane Carmody said in light of the two recent fatal accidents, the temporary suspension of Boeing 737 Max aircraft operations was the best response"... “This is a temporary suspension while we wait for more information to review the safety risks of continued operations of the Boeing 737 Max to and from Australia,”...“CASA regrets any inconvenience to passengers but ­believes it is important to always put safety first.”

The only reason, our Patron Saint of Australian Aviation Safety, St Carmody got off his shiny-arsed buttocks yesterday was because he had nothing to lose and lots to gain. Fortunately for St CC there was only two international operators who were currently operating in and out of Oz with the 737-MAX. One of those, Silkair had already self-suspended 737-MAX ops UFN and the other Fiji Airways was non-plussed with only 2 737-MAX in their fleet. 

St CC has effectively created a nice big smokescreen, to hang his halo on, in the lead up to what is IMO an important Senate RRAT committee inquisition on Thursday - see HERE .

Disgusting the sheer hypocrisy on display when you compare the above St CC statement yesterday with the damning evidence of obfuscation with both the Great White DFO Elephant still parked at Essendon Fields Airport and Fort Fumble's obvious abrogation of oversight of Harfwit's partime Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting Service.   

UFU submission:  https://www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStore.ash...bId=667139

...The presence of the ARFF service is key to safeguarding the safety and security at major

metropolitan and regional airports around the country, which is critical for international and
domestic tourism Any adverse impact on the reputation of Australia’s national and
international aviation industry, particularly those associated negatively with passengers’
safety and/or the seamless movement of both passengers and goods, therefore has the
potential to cause massive economic loss to the economy. Depending on the level and type
of reputational damage, including the quantum of fatalities, the affects could last for many
years.

If a significant downturn in aviation travel occurred due to an incident involving massive loss
of life, particularly if it was revealed that this could have been avoided through compliance
with standards that already exist internationally, the ARFF provider, regulator and ultimately
the Government who are blamed for not addressing the cause of the incident earlier, would
be held in public contempt and potentially exposed legally, politically and internationally...

     
MTF...P2