Jet Aviation Casualties

After more and more countries have grounded the B-737 Max 8, the EASA has suspended B-737 Max 8 operation for the entire EASA scope. This includes T/O, landings and overflights of any EASA country. Looks like that very soon, not many countries in the world (except the USA) will allow 737 Max8 operation anymore. Very bad news for Boeing and many airlines. More than 340 B-737 Max 8 are in operation worldwide.

This control augmentation system (CAS) really needs an update (both hard- and software) before the B-737 Max 8 is allowed to resume operations. Safety first !!

But one thing, I do not understand is the question, why the pilots were not able to override the the CAS. On all CAS equipped aircraft, I had a rating on and I have flown in my life, there was a quick disconnect button or lever and a quick downgrade possibility for the CAS to continue the flight in manual mode for an ASAP safe landing. No aircraft should go out of control caused by a CAS failure or control transients from any other onboard computer.

I hope, they will find the crash recorder very soon, in order to get this problem evaluated and solved. The B-737 Max 8 is a very efficient and versatile aircraft and needs to go back to the air.

After the FAA has grounded the US registered B-737 Max8 also and Boeing has adviced all airlines to not to fly the aircraft type until further notice, all 370 B-737 Max8 are now on the ground. Better safe than sorry!

On request of the Ethopian Airlines and their Government, the crash and voice recorders have been send to France for evaluation by the BEA, the french authority for the evaluation of civil aeronautical accidents.

The FAA is expecting similarities beetwen the two tragic accidents in Asia and Africa. I hope the problem can be found and solved ASAP. But I am very much conform with the opinion of the FAA, that this is not only a hard- and software problem. Airine Pilot Training might also need some adjustments. I would call that advanced aircraft handling and situational awareness training. Safe commercial civil aviation is IMHO more than gear up, flaps up and AP on.

This is kind of chilling to read:

https://www.seattletimes.com/busine...-max-system-implicated-in-the-lion-air-crash/

TL;DR - Boeing pressured the FAA to speed up certification of the plane, and in turn the FAA allowed Boeing to do it's own assessment on many parts of the 737 MAX, including the MCAS. Also, some parameters that Boeing submitted to the FAA (and were approved) were then modified/increased after the certification and the FAA was not subsequently notified.

This will be a very expensive proceeding for Boeing. A bunch of lawyers worldwide are already rubbing their hands for the upcomming damage claims.

The initial evaluations of the crash recorder tapes of both accidents by the french BEA have shown almost congruent control transients and behaviours of the MCAS. IMHO it has proven, that both accidents have been caused by this MCAS.

Kevin, Your link answers my question from above, why this control augmentation system could cause the aircraft to go out of control. No augmentation system should have so much control authority (and no manual override).
And reading the above, lobbyism may have caused human lifes.

Sorry, but I do not believe, that a simple software update will solve this problem. That is in my opinion a real design error.

The B-737 Max8 is a great aircraft and in most aspects better than the Airbus 320 Neo. (faster, more range, more versatile and more flexible in interior design). But it may take some time for the airlines to regain confidence in this a/c. Lets hope the best for Boeing.

An update today: https://www.adn.com/nation-world/20...-faces-more-hurdles-to-restore-737-max-fleet/

As I mentioned in a discussion with @HTM09 as well as some other people elsewhere, the FAA finds themselves in as much hot water as Boeing.

The biggest problem besides the very tragic loss of many lifes, is the loss of confidence in the FAA and Boeing. It took so long for the FAA and the other certifying agencies to accept each others certifications. If these accidents will cause these agreements to fail for longer periods, international aircraft sales will be hampered very much and many workers worldwide will loose their jobs plus the aviation businesses a lot of money.

The FAA and Boeing must get their act together and work in cooperation with the other certifying authorities to solve the problems and get the B-737 Max8 in the air again. I does not help, if the FAA clears the aircraft flying again for the CONUS and the rest of the world will close their airspaces for the Max8, just because they do not trust this simple software update.

What a mess!

We had a so called Stability Augementation System (StabAug) on the F-4 Phantom. A very simple analog elctro-hydraulic sytem with 3 switches for roll, pitch and yaw plus a quick disconnect on the control stick. In case of a StabAug failure, the Phantom could make some strange but not violent movements. But in case of random electrical spices (generator failure or RCR failure, those movement were no fun (scary), especially during high speed low level flying. Even when pressing the quick disconnect, it could take up to 40 sec for the system to go completely offline.

During a functional test flight at 40.000 ft with the Autopilot on, the StabAug system failed on me and the a/c went immediately out of control and into a spin. In this case the bold face emergency procedure called for the deployment of the drag chute for the out of control recovery. The F-4 recovered as advertised and I had to fly home with a deployed chute. I could land the a/c safely but my backseater had to wash his underpants after landing. Self induced stress, why did he not become a pilot in the first place .

What I am saying is just, no CAS, CSAS, MCAS or any ancient StabAug system should make an aircraft unflyable. Mind over matter, period.

Curious revelation today: redundant sensors are "optional"...

https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5065888

Sully pulls no punches here:

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/c...e-faa-went-wrong-in-this-ugly-saga-2019-03-19

For anyone interested in more info about the MAX situation, the Airplane Geeks podcast has a pretty comprehensive interview with a current 737 Captain.

http://www.airplanegeeks.com/2019/03/27/545-boeing-737-max-someones-got-some-splaining-to-do/

If you want to skip the weekly news and go straight to the interview, it starts at 20:32.