Posted on 03/26/2019 5:36:42 AM PDT by C19fan
During flight simulations recreating the problems with the doomed Lion Air plane, pilots discovered that they had less than 40 seconds to override an automated system on Boeing’s new jets and avert disaster.
The pilots tested a crisis situation similar to what investigators suspect went wrong in the Lion Air crash in Indonesia last fall. In the tests, a single sensor failed, triggering software designed to help prevent a stall.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
It bet it seemed a lot longer.
...but not the ability
I’m surprised the stock is holding up so well after the initial drop with the information that’s come out.
It’s clear that they cut corners on this MCAS system and on the pilot re-training. There was no redundancy on the sensors, and no warning lights that the MCAS was in action... unless they were bought as an option.
One thing I haven’t heard discussed is how marginal the plane’s stability is. Was the MCAS added as a marginal improvement, or is the plane really likely to stall. I’d like to hear more about that.
Many decades of excellence destroyed by a few recent shitty decisions.
It bet it seemed a lot longer.
...
Yep. There are chemicals released in the brain under stressful conditions that will make time seem slower. I suppose it’s a survival mechanism.
Anyway, 40 seconds is more than enough time for a competent pilot.
The Boeing rudder problems in the 1990’s were much worse. Boeing has been one of the best performing large companies for many decades.
All the US pilots recovered on the simulated failure, so yeah, it was more than enough time.
i wonder haw many of these incidents have occurred without a crash.
Here’s how a competent pilot would handle an MCAS failure:
https://youtu.be/xixM_cwSLcQ?t=1013
Filmed in a simulator.
I.E. The Tech is too complicated... Computers are fantastic gadgets and they can essentially fly the plane without the pilots... But a software glitch is a software glitch. The glitch should have been discovered earlier. It wasn’t and now we have hundreds of people dead. Boeing blew it.
I’ve watched enough of those ‘Mayday’ shows on discovery and this isn’t the first time a plane manufacture has screwed up and it won’t be the last.
The one Mayday show that confounded me... In one episode the aircraft crew failed to realize that they had lost an engine... My first thought was, wouldn’t it have been nice if they had a rear-view mirror or a live video showing the engines? Instead, they developed yet another ‘computer’ sensor to inform them when the engine falls off. I’d much prefer a rear-view mirror to a fallible sensor.
i wonder haw many of these incidents have occurred without a crash.
...
Good point.
The NTSB definitely needs to find out.
Also see the video I posted in #9.
There was no redundancy on the sensors,
...
There’s two AOA sensors on the plane, but only one at a time is read by the MCAS. If both were hooked up, how would the MCAS determine which is correct? Boeing and airlines rely on competent pilots to handle the problem.
The Airbus 321 has three AOA sensors. The computers vote for which is correct if there are different readings. They still get it wrong sometimes.
But a software glitch is a software glitch.
...
The software was responding correctly to bad data.
It’s up to the pilots to recognize the situation.
See the video I posted in #9.
That should NOT be "new" information.
Boeing should have known that failure mode long ago.
They just lost a China order of 300 aircraft to Airbus.
Buy BA below 300....
Commercial airlines are much safer than Norwegian Cruise ships, safer than trains, and safer than automobiles. It’s a remarkable record. The technical fix has already been done and will be installed in all airplanes. While updated training of air crews is also being done, training issues within certain foreign airlines will continue and will present a hazard.
How many planes crashed / lives lost then?
If the pilot has the information to diagnose and the knowledge to fix the problem.
Yep. Been there done that, as you reported.
FWIW, I just spoke to my neighbor, who flies the 737 MAX 8. He told me that so far as he’s concerned it a safe plane to fly. He mentioned the disconnect switches and the fact that the pitch trim wheel is equipped with a crank to allow the pilots to make gross pitch trim changes if needed. He says that the documentation needs to be a whole lot better, but he feels that there is plenty of time to correct a “runaway trim” situation caused by a faulty AOA sensor that is dedicated to MCAS. He also says that part of the “fix” coming from Boeing, is that both AOA sensors are going to be employed with MCAS going forward (instead of just one) with the software cross-checking both AOAs for “agreement” with any discrepancy resulting in the MCAS rendering itself inop. He personally thinks the coverup on the two crashes is partly because the foreign governments involved don’t want to admit that their pilots had insufficient training. He also pointed out that the Lion Air crash plane had the same malfunction the day before it crashed and third pilot was able to identify the problem and provide corrective direction to the on-duty pilots.
This is a BIG deal for the airlines, because the 737 MAX 8 and 9 offer 14% better fuel efficiency than earlier models. That is a huge number!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.