Weeks into the deadly Ethiopian aircraft crash, The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Boeing made overt admission that new software in its 737 MAX jets could have played a role in two deadly crashes as it tries to convince pilots, airlines and regulators around the world that a coming fix will solve the problem.
“The rigor and thoroughness of the design and testing that went into the Max gives us complete confidence that the changes we’re making will address any of these accidents,” Mike Sinnett, Boeing’s vice president for product strategy, said in a press briefing, according to New York Times.
Before a meeting with more than 200 pilots and airline executives at its factory in Renton, Wash, Boeing, for
the first time, publicly laid out its proposed updates to the software as well other changes to the 737 Max that it hopes will get the plane flying again.
This also came Ethiopia prepares to release preliminary findings from the uncovered black box. Over a week ago, the Ethiopia also announced shared similarities between the doomed Ethiopian and Lion aircrafts 737 MAX models.
From the unstable vertical speed to the flight time after takeoff, the two doomed aircrafts displayed various resemblances. It is to be recalled that Ethiopian airlines also refuted false claims related to pilot training. It was also reported that the pilots who flew the aircraft were seniors with good flying record.
According to NYT, Boeing official said that in most accidents, many things go wrong. Based on what is known about the crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia, Boeing said it felt that MCAS was in need of updating.
“We’ve seen two accidents now and we believe it is appropriate to make that link in the chain more robust,” the official said.
The updated software, which Boeing outlined on Wednesday, will rely on data from two so-called angle of attack sensors, so the plane won’t have a single point of failure. It will also make it easier for pilots to override the system, which was originally designed to push down the nose of the plane repeatedly and aggressively.
The company said the new software
had been extensively tested and officials from the F.A.A. had taken test flights on updated jets. Pilots from United States airlines have also tried out the updated system in flight simulators.
Lately, in a strong rebuke to Washington Post’s article on pilot training, Ethiopian Airlines in statement said the carrier is one of the highest global standards of quality and safety performances certified by all National, Regional and International regulators like the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority, the FAA, EASA, IOSA and ICAO and other National regulatory authorities. Ethiopian is one of the leading global airlines with modern fleet, high standards of infrastructure, highly automated with the latest ICT (information and communication technology) and one of the most modern operating systems.
This week Ethiopian airlines was also awarded as African champion. “We are honored to be awarded as African champion. Thank you very much for the strong vote of confidence that Africa has given us even at the most challenging time in our history.” Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam (Group CEO, Ethiopian Airlines)
It is to be recalled that Ethiopian Airlines ET 302 737 MAX 8 crashed six minutes after takeoff killing 157 people on board. The accident led to many countries grounding the model with some suspending the aircraft not to fly in their airspace including UK.
Herald March 29/2019
BY DESTA GEBREHIWOT
