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Boeing CEO Defends 737 Max Flight Control System

posted by chromas on Tuesday April 30 2019, @11:00AM   Printer-friendly
from the it's-not-my-fault dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

[CEO Dennis] Muilenburg said Boeing is making "steady progress" on a fix to the MCAS flight control system that's at the center of crash investigations in Ethiopia and Indonesia, but he stopped short of faulting the software's basic design.

"We've confirmed that it was designed for our standards, certified for our standards and we're confident in that process," he said. "It operated according to those design and certification standards. We haven't seen a technical slip or gap."

Preliminary reports from both crashes suggest that the MCAS system, which is designed to push the Max's nose down under certain flight conditions, was receiving erroneous data from faulty sensors. In both accidents, flight crews struggled unsuccessfully to take control as the airplanes continually dove just after takeoff.

In his remarks, Muilenburg said the incorrect data was a common link in a chain of events that led to both crashes. It's a link Boeing owns and that the software update will fix.

"[The update] will make the aircraft safer going forward," he said. "I'm confident with that change it will be one of the safest airplanes ever to fly."

Without elaborating Muilenburg also said that in some cases pilots did not "completely" follow the procedures that Boeing had outlined to prevent a crash in the case of a MCAS malfunction.

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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 30 2019, @02:01PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 30 2019, @02:01PM (#836680)

    "Our standards" is just enough to raise all the alarms.
    Also related video (under reserve it's a discarded production unit) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhZ0D-JRtz0 [youtube.com]
    Which also raise the question of having a single (cheap) sensor with no built-in redundancy, in airplanes where just about everything has redundancy (even flight personnel)

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  • (Score: 3, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday April 30 2019, @04:26PM (2 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday April 30 2019, @04:26PM (#836749) Journal

    I need some of these: https://www.inkace.com/danger-not-operated-fuckwits-sign/ [inkace.com]

    • (Score: 2) by edIII on Tuesday April 30 2019, @11:31PM

      by edIII (791) on Tuesday April 30 2019, @11:31PM (#836957)

      That's fucking perfect :)

      --
      Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.

    • (Score: 2) by driverless on Wednesday May 01 2019, @07:07AM

      by driverless (4770) on Wednesday May 01 2019, @07:07AM (#837116)

      It's not quite right, it should say "Not to be managed by fuckwits", and be pinned to Boeing corporate HQ.