Posted on 03/10/2019 1:35:43 PM PDT by springwater13
The Boeing 737 MAX 8, a brand new plane only registered in November, disappeared from the radar six minutes into the flight. Immediate comparisons have been drawn with Lion Air flight 610, which crashed just over four months ago, killing 189 people. Flight data showed erratic climbs and descents before the plane, also a MAX 8, came down 12 minutes after takeoff from Jakarta.
More than 300 Boeing 737-MAX planes are in operation and more than 5,000 have been ordered worldwide since 2017. It is the latest iteration of the 737, the world’s bestselling plane, ever more capable of flying autonomously.
Autonomy, however, can bring problems. It is notable that insurers considering driverless cars worry most about the period when highly autonomous vehicles will coexist with human drivers, the uncertain interface between human and artificial intelligence.
Pilots worldwide were angered after the Lion Air crash that subtle software modifications to the MAX 8’s autopilot had not been fully communicated. Nor were they made the subject of mandatory pilot retraining.
The new plane automatically compensates if it believes its angle puts it at a risk of stalling, a safety feature that worked in a slightly different way to that which 737 pilots were used to. Lion Air’s black box suggested the pilots of flight 610 had been wrestling with this issue.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
I used to wrench on P&W radials. Even today, I run outside if I hear one of those thumpers flying over. They’re like a 9-cyl Harley; I love ‘em!
I have been wondering if UTC is going be getting more orders in light of what happened to two Boeing made jets.
It’s when the aircraft stops flying and it’s still at altitude. Then there are real problems.
Christian, they want us Dead
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