Ethiopia says pilots followed Boeing guidance before crash
Guardian [US],
by
Gwyn Topham
Original Article
Posted By: LittleHoodedMonk,
4/4/2019 8:57:26 AM
The pilots of the Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max that crashed last month killing 157 people followed Boeing’s emergency instructions but were still unable to stop the plane’s nose repeatedly pointing down, investigators said. The Ethiopian government said data from the plane’s recorders showed “repetitive uncommanded aircraft nose-down conditions” and said Boeing should review its aircraft control system. The country’s transport minister, Dagmawit Moges, did not cite the aircraft’s controversial anti-stall system, but said: “The crew performed all the procedures repeatedly provided by the manufacturer but was not able to
Reply 1 - Posted by:
Rumblehog 4/4/2019 9:11:56 AM (No. 22956)
Must disagree with OP, as Boeing is NOT "in a heap of trouble financially." This is why corporations have insurance policies. They pay out the families of victims, fix the problems, and move on. I have no doubt that the Board of Directors will demand the CEO "fall on his sword" for the company, as this happened on HIS watch.
I was always disappointed that the Board did not hire Alan Mulally (Boeing 777 Project Leader) as CEO. Instead he went off to run Ford, where he lead them through the auto industry crisis brilliantly. The Boeing 777 was THE best program ever executed by Boeing, and resulted in a near perfect aircraft for reliability and safety.
10 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
Strike3 4/4/2019 9:23:16 AM (No. 22954)
Well Duh. Once a passenger plane goes into a stall or an uncontrolled dive it´s darn near impossible to get it right again without having a bunch of altitude between you and the ground. It´s not a crop duster or a jet fighter.
10 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
hershey 4/4/2019 10:14:08 AM (No. 22961)
You mean that type of plane doesn´t have an ´OFF´ switch in case of emergency??? What kind of idiot doesn´t build in an ´off´ switch????
9 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
Turninggrey 4/4/2019 10:35:44 AM (No. 22952)
Sigh. Competent pilots would have used the stab trim cutout switch provided for this purpose. I know it is asking a lot these days for pilots to simply know their aircraft. Yes, the system could have been designed better, but the problem in this case is Ethiopian pilots. It´s a "Memory Item" for pilots:
Runaway Stabilizer
Condition: Uncommanded stabilizer trim movement occurs continuously
1) Control Column .................................... Hold Firmly
2) Autopilot (if engaged) ........................ Disengage
Do NOT re-engage the autopilot.
Control airplane pitch attitude manually with
control column and main electric trim as needed.
3) IF the runaway STOPS: Done
4) IF the runaway CONTINUES:
STAB TRIM CUTOUT
switches (both) ............................... CUTOUT
IF the runaway CONTINUES:
Stabilizer Trim Wheel .................... Grasp and hold
14 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
Rubinski 4/4/2019 10:41:32 AM (No. 22951)
Boeing stock is up today. My husband, a former pilot, says he thinks that no one believes the Ethiopians when they say the pilots did not make an error.
11 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
zzzghy 4/4/2019 10:47:58 AM (No. 22955)
Modern commercial pilots are more software managers than aviators.
I´ll happily take my chances in a 30-year-old 172 than a shiny new 737 Max. The little ones love to fly and they don´t need a gaggle of electronics to keep the nose down.
10 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
LC Chihuahua 4/4/2019 11:31:01 AM (No. 22959)
Have to wonder if turning off aircraft systems actually created even more errors. Error handling can be some of the hardest code to write because its possible to encounter an error that nobody ever anticipated or the error is something that occurs very rarely and its extremely hard to recreate. Didn´t Boeing say they would need more time to fix the problem?
9 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
swarfer 4/4/2019 11:50:15 AM (No. 22960)
Everyday literally millions of passengers fly aircraft that have crashed multiple times over the years.
4 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
coldoc 4/4/2019 11:55:07 AM (No. 22958)
It seems to me the mcas system is for pilots who are not very good at flying. Disengage the AP and it takes over. OK, I´m an aircraft disasters show junkie. Lousy piloting skills seem to have been supplanted by computers. A recurrent theme is pilots not understanding what their aircraft is doing. Can they not read an artificial horizon anymore?
11 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
Rama41 4/4/2019 12:06:35 PM (No. 22962)
Other reports I´ve read state the Ethiopian pilots turned the MCAS system on and off multiple times. Once something breaks, you turn it off and leave it off. Ever reset a ciruit breaker? Same principle.
10 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
DVC 4/4/2019 3:34:39 PM (No. 22953)
The Guardian says that "Ethopia says"...
Yeah, two layers away from anything I would trust. The Guardian is a commie rag, and Ethopia is furiously trying to cover up their incompetence.
Boeing is not in any sort of a real bind here. They probably do need to make some mods to account for better idiots than they had originally imagined. But, I really think what Boeing needs to do is require Boeing´s OWN flight instructors to qualify 3rd world pilots on the aircraft for these marginal airlines.
Boeing should include a required training package with each aircraft, Boeing instructors checking out the customer airline´s pilots and training them up to necessary standards.
9 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
DVC 4/4/2019 6:02:22 PM (No. 22963)
#3, YES, Boeing put an off switch right on the console next to the pilot, in easy reach. But, you have to be smart enough, and well trained enough to know to flip the damned switch.
These guys did not know that, and the jump seat pilot the previous day saved the aircraft when this same malfunction apparently occurred, and the pilots flying were NOT figuring it out. The jump seat pilot flipped the off switch on MCAS and they wrote up the problem. And the Ethiopian bicycle mechanics DIDN´T fix it. And the next set of pilots, just as clueless as the first set, didn´t have a smarter guy in their jump seat to save their butts.
It seems that the sensor driving the MCAS system was failed or malfunctioning and was not identified properly and replaced, after the first incident.
9 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
DVC 4/4/2019 6:03:52 PM (No. 22957)
Thank you, #4. Clearly you have "been there done that" and were properly trained.
8 people like this.
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While not stated here, other publications are claiming that it was a "bird strike" that began the chain of events leading to the uncontrollable sudden nose down commands prior to the crash. Boeing is in a heap of trouble financially and by numerous of our federal agencies, especially after the prior devestating 737 Max crash last October.