Posted on 03/14/2019 2:33:55 PM PDT by rickmichaels
Lion Air Flight 610 plunged into the sea off Indonesia because the pilot “lost (the) fight with his software,” Canadian Transport minister Marc Garneau chillingly told a Wednesday press conference announcing the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX 8.
There is nothing wrong with the basic mechanics of the aircraft: Its engines, wings and control surfaces are all believed to be working fine. Rather, the passenger jet may have killed 346 people for the terrifyingly modern reason that human pilots were unable to override a malfunctioning computer.
The cause of the Lion Air crash — and the suspected cause of the recent downing of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 — is a little-known piece of software known as MCAS, the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System.
The 737 MAX 8 has heavier and more fuel-efficient engines than prior editions of the 737, a change which causes the aircraft to pitch upwards ever-so-slightly after takeoff.
Rather than instructing airlines to warn their pilots of this quirk, Boeing simply equipped the MAX 8 with MCAS, a program that would automatically tilt the nose downwards to compensate.
In normal circumstances, the system is not a problem, but it only takes a minor maintenance error to turn MCAS into a deadly liability.
In the case of Lion Air Flight 610, the 737 MAX 8 had a faulty “angle of attack sensor”; a small blade sticking out of the cockpit that records the angle of the aircraft in flight.
The sensor was wrongly telling the MAX 8’s flight computers that the aircraft was climbing much more sharply than it was. As a result, pilots were left wrestling with an aircraft that was repeatedly plunging itself towards the ground for no reason.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalpost.com ...
mohammad can’t fly?
Or maybe in this case, for no known reason, Boeing decided to build an autopilot that the human pilot can’t override.
More like Mohammad can’t land safely.
There is nothing wrong with the basic mechanics of the aircraft: Its engines, wings and control surfaces are all believed to be working fine. Rather, the passenger jet may have killed 346 people for the terrifyingly modern reason that human pilots were unable to override a malfunctioning computer.
...
The computer was fine. The sensor was bad, and the airline should have had the plane grounded because of the sensor. Even so, any competent pilot could have handled the situation.
Boeing engineers are thorough. It’s hard to believe MCAS and an exterior sensor are the cause.
Boeing designs for fault tolerance and always with options for pilots to override.
It’s something else.
This account is the best I’ve read so far on the topic.
Aaaand... Trump was right as usual.
“Airplanes are 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. Always seeking to go one unnecessary step further, when often old and simpler is far better.
I don’t know about you, but 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!”
Boeing should be asked:
“In what country was the software in question developed?”
They’ll never answer. Care to guess?
Or maybe in this case, for no known reason, Boeing decided to build an autopilot that the human pilot can’t override.
...
The same Lion Air 737 that crashed had the same problem on a previous flight, but the pilots in that case knew what they were doing and got the plane to its destination safely.
The problem is Boeing didn’t build a plane that’s safe from pilots that are incompetent.
As a result, pilots were left wrestling with an aircraft that was repeatedly plunging itself towards the ground for no reason.
...
All they had to to was disable the automatic trim. Pilots on a previous flight did that and they got to their destination safely.
“The 737 MAX 8 has heavier and more fuel-efficient engines than prior editions of the 737, a change which causes the aircraft to pitch upwards ever-so-slightly after takeoff.”
Then that’s the real problem that needs to be fixed, not the faulty software that was a band-aid for the problem.
“The computer was fine. The sensor was bad, and the airline should have had the plane grounded because of the sensor. Even so, any competent pilot could have handled the situation.”
You just contradicted yourself. The software makes up a component of the computer. The software is defective if it cannot handle a faulty sensor. Therefore the computer is defective as a whole.
And one or two of these planes took your advice and “Grounded” themselves.
According to one source, pilots in the U.S. use the autopilot as a backup. In other words, the pilot flies the plane. In other countries, it is the opposite.
One wonders what was malfunctioning - the computer, or the human?
Look Dave, I can see you’re really upset about this. I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill, and think things over. I know I’ve made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal. I’ve still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission. And I want to help you.
We rely on them to report the news not opinionate all over it.
When I saw the title, I thought that they were grounded worldwide because only Moslems were flying the planes.
But, the Mircosoft-quality software is equally terrifying.
737 VICTIMS
I’m sure it merely a coincidence the China unveiled it’s new commercial airliner the same week this plane crashed.
There are stories that have been circulating for a long time that aircraft flight systems have a back door that allows the plane to be remotely controlled. Supposedly, this was a response to the 9/11 hijackings. Guess who would be making the chips in these systems?
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