Boeing 737 MAX: Manufacturer rolls out software fix but claims it is nothing to do with Ethiopia crash

Boeing 737 MAX

A Boeing official in Seattle said on Wednesday the timing of the software upgrade was “100 per cent independent of the timing of the Ethiopian accident”, and the company was taking steps to make the anti-stall system “more robust”.

“We are going to do everything that we can do to ensure that accidents like these never happen again,” said Mike Sinnett, vice president for product strategy and development at Boeing.

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Planes fly over Mount Everest

Planes fly over Mount Everest

Wouldn’t it be amazing to see the entire Himalayan range from the top while flying in an airplane? The white snow covered mountains peeking through the clouds while you sit on your seat looking through your window and sipping on a hot cup of tea or coffee. Whichever you prefer.

A Quora user asked the question that has been going on in our mind all this while, “Do any regularly scheduled airline routes fly over Mount Everest?”

Another Quora user, Jeff Chatterton, who is a frequent flier has answered this question.

He says, “No. In fact, most scheduled airlines avoid Nepal entirely.”

He explains, why is that the case, “Everest is 29,000 feet. While jet’s typically cruising anywhere from 35 to 40,000 feet, that’s well inside a jet’s cruise altitude – especially if it were a regional jet.”

Jeff suddenly gives a very bloody picture, “Wouldn’t that s**k flying along BOOM!” We don’t even want to think about that.

He further gives reasons as to why airplanes generally avoid flying along mountains and especially the Himalayan range, “Anyway, yes, I know, they could avoid it, but there are other issues that come out of this.

1. Sudden cabin depressurization? The process is to dive to 10k feet while donning oxygen masks for the 2-3 minutes it takes to get there. That doesn’t work if you can’t actually GET to 10k feet.

2. There’s no ‘room for error.’ If you have a mechanical problem and need to glide while you fix it, there simply isn’t any room to bleed off altitude.

3. Turbulence over mountains is nasty.

4. There are no easy airports to divert to. Kathmandu can handle a jet, but it only has a single runway and it doesn’t have ILS (an instrument landing system.)

It’s just easier, and far safer, to avoid the Himalayas completely.”

We agree, but the view from the top is way to beautiful.

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Boeing Ethiopia crash probe finds anti-stall device activated

Boeing Ethiopia crash

Officials probing the crash in Ethiopia of a Boeing 737 Max have preliminarily concluded that a flight-control feature automatically activated before it crashed, the Wall Street Journal says.

The newspaper, citing unnamed sources, says the findings were relayed on Thursday at a briefing at the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The flight-control feature is meant to help prevent the plane from stalling.

Boeing said it could not comment as the investigation was still under way.

It said all inquiries should be referred to the investigating authorities. The BBC has approached the FAA for a response.

Meanwhile, Ethiopia’s Ministry of Transport said: “We have seen the WSJ report. We’ll comment shortly.”

Thursday also saw what is thought to be the first lawsuit filed on the crash.

Black box findings

The Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) flight-control feature was also implicated in a fatal crash by Lion Air flight in Indonesia last year.

Together, the two crashes have claimed 346 lives.•

MCAS is software designed to help prevent the 737 Max 8 from stalling.

It reacts when sensors in the nose of the aircraft show the jet is climbing at too steep an angle, which can cause planes to stall.

But an investigation of the Lion Air flight last year suggested the system malfunctioned, and forced the plane’s nose down more than 20 times before it crashed into the sea, killing all 189 passengers and crew.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says there are similarities between that crash and the Ethiopian accident on 10 March.

Boeing has redesigned the software so that it will disable MCAS if it receives conflicting data from its sensors.

As part of the upgrade, Boeing will install an extra warning system on all 737 Max aircraft, which was previously an optional safety feature.

Neither of the planes, operated by Lion Air in Indonesia and Ethiopian Airlines, that were involved in the fatal crashes carried the alert systems, which are designed to warn pilots when sensors produce contradictory readings.

Earlier this week, Boeing said that the upgrades were not an admission that the system had caused the crashes.

Investigators have not yet determined the cause of the accidents.

A preliminary report from Ethiopian authorities is expected within days.

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