Would you fly in a 737 Max 8 right now?

spaminator

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S43E6Falling from the Sky
01:20:25 | 11.28.20 | NR | CC
On the heels of Boeing 737 MAX's recent clearance to fly again, "20/20" reports on the aircraft's controversial flight control software and how it mistakenly sent planes into deadly nosedives.
 

JLM

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Nov 27, 2008
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No but I wouldn't fly in any god damned plane now. Faulty planes are just the tip of the iceberg! Finding competence in any field of endeavour can be tricky. That isn't to say there aren't SOME well qualified professionals.
 

Durry

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May 18, 2010
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Yes I would fly the Max, probably the safest plane in the sky right now,,,,even tho today AC had an engine problem and had to divert to Tucson .
 

Jinentonix

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There's too much automation these days. Pilot skills are decreasing. I think regs should insist that pilots fly so many hands-on hours per hours flying. There have been airlines where their pilots only had 50 hours of hands on flying, including training, and all of it was in a simulator.

On top of that, flight systems, flight computers and controls should be standardized throughout the industry. Pilots tend to fly more than one variant or make of aircraft at work. This HAS caused confusion that led to disaster more than once. F*ck the proprietary bullshit.
Even variants of the same a/c have some noticeable and potentially confusing setups. For example, the engine that provides electrical power to a standard 737 is on one side of the a/c but on the 737-400 variant, it's on the opposite side. Sadly, this too has caused disasters in real life.

Never mind a 737 MAX. I wouldn't get on a commercial airliner for $1 million these days. If I wanna fly somewhere I'll fly there myself.
 

spaminator

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Boeing asks airlines to inspect 737 Max jets for potential loose bolt
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Wyatte Grantham-philips
Published Dec 29, 2023 • 2 minute read
Boeing is asking airlines to inspect its 737 Max jets for a potential loose bolt in the rudder control system, the airplane maker and Federal Aviation Administration confirmed this week, Friday, Dec. 29, 2023.
Boeing is asking airlines to inspect its 737 Max jets for a potential loose bolt in the rudder control system, the airplane maker and Federal Aviation Administration confirmed this week, Friday, Dec. 29, 2023.
Boeing is asking airlines to inspect its 737 Max jets for a potential loose bolt in the rudder control system, the airplane maker and Federal Aviation Administration confirmed this week.


The FAA said it would be “closely monitoring” the targeted inspections. The agency said Thursday that Boeing issued its inspection guidance to airlines after an international operator found a bolt with a missing nut during routine maintenance. In a separate case, Boeing also discovered an undelivered aircraft that had a nut that was not properly tightened.


“The issue identified on the particular airplane has been remedied,” the Arlington, Virginia, company told The Associated Press on Friday. “Out of an abundance of caution, we are recommending operators inspect their 737 MAX airplanes and inform us of any findings.”

Boeing added that it will continue to update both customers and federal regulators on the progress.


The FAA said it will remain in contact with Boeing and impacted airlines as the inspections are performed, and potentially “consider additional action based on any further discovery of loose or missing hardware.”

According to Boeing, there have been no in-flight incidents caused by this condition to date — noting that crews’ routine checks would signal if the rudder was not working properly before an aircraft pushes back from the gate.

The company added that all airplanes Boeing is set to deliver onward will have the inspection (which is estimated to take about two hours per plane) prior to delivery.

U.S. carriers with 737 Max jets in their fleet include United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, American Airlines and Alaska Airlines. All four of these carriers told The Associated Press Friday that they don’t expect operational impacts. Southwest, for example, said it was currently performing all of these inspections during routine overnight maintenance.


A firm timeline for the inspections wasn’t provided for each airline, but Alaska said it expected to complete the process by the first half of January.

Boeing’s 737 Max jets were grounded worldwide for 20 months after two crashes in 2018 and 2019 killed a total of 346 people. Investigations focused on an automated flight-control system that pushed the nose of the plane down based on faulty sensor readings. Boeing did not tell pilots and airlines about the system until after the first crash.

The FAA, which also faced criticism for the way it approved the Max jets prior to these deadly crashes, has since moved to provide a more-detailed certification process for large planes and required safety disclosures.
 
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spaminator

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Boeing still hasn’t fixed this problem on Max jets, so it’s asking for an exemption to safety rules
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Published Jan 05, 2024 • 2 minute read
Boeing is asking federal regulators to exempt a new model of its 737 Max airliner from a safety standard designed to prevent part of the engine housing from overheating and breaking off during flight. Boeing needs the exemption to begin delivering the new, smaller Max 7 to airlines.
Boeing is asking federal regulators to exempt a new model of its 737 Max airliner from a safety standard designed to prevent part of the engine housing from overheating and breaking off during flight. Boeing needs the exemption to begin delivering the new, smaller Max 7 to airlines.
DALLAS (AP) — Boeing is asking federal regulators to exempt a new model of its 737 Max airliner from a safety standard designed to prevent part of the engine housing from overheating and breaking off during flight.


Federal officials said last year that Boeing was working to fix the hazard on current Max planes. In the meantime, they told pilots to limit use of an anti-icing system in some conditions to avoid damage that “could result in loss of control of the airplane.”


Without a fix ready, Boeing asked the Federal Aviation Administration last month for an exemption to safety standards related to engine inlets and the anti-ice system through May 2026. Boeing needs the exemption to begin delivering the new, smaller Max 7 to airlines.

Boeing said Friday that it is “developing a long-term solution” that would face FAA review.

But some critics are raising alarms about basing safety on pilots remembering when to limit use of the anti-ice system.


“You get our attention when you say people might get killed,” Dennis Tajer, a spokesman for American Airlines pilots, told The Seattle Times, which reported on the waiver request Friday. “We’re not interested in seeing exemptions and accommodations that depend on human memory … there’s just got to be a better way.”

Pilots flying the Max 8 and Max 9 have been warned to limit use of an anti-icing system to five minutes when flying in dry conditions. Otherwise, the FAA says, inlets around the engines could get too hot, and parts of the housing could break away and strike the plane, possibly breaking windows and causing rapid decompression.

That is what happened when an engine fan blade broke on an older 737 during a Southwest Airlines flight in 2018. A piece of loose engine housing struck and shattered a window, and a woman sitting next to the window was killed.


The overheating issue only affects the Max, which has engine inlets made from carbon composite materials rather than metal.

A Boeing spokeswoman said in a statement that under the company’s request, pilots of the new Max 7 would follow the same instructions for the anti-ice systems as pilots of current Max planes.

“We are developing a long-term solution that will undergo thorough testing and FAA review before being introduced to the 737 MAX fleet,” the spokeswoman said.

The FAA said last year that it had not received any reports of the overheating problem happening on Max flights, but that it issued the warning to pilots because of the severity of the risk, which was discovered on a test flight.

The 737 Max went into service in May 2017. Two of the planes crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people. All Max jets were grounded worldwide for nearly two years while the company made changes to an automated flight-control system that pushed the nose down based on faulty sensor readings.

More recently, Max deliveries have been interrupted to fix manufacturing flaws, and last month the company told airlines to inspect the planes for a possible loose bolt in the rudder-control system.
 

Tecumsehsbones

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Big gamble for Boeing. If you brought this out to a jury considering the award in a lawsuit, I imagine the punitive damages would start with a "b."
 

spaminator

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FAA orders grounding of Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliners after Alaska Airlines flight suffers midair blowout
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Audrey Mcavoy and David Koenig
Published Jan 05, 2024 • Last updated 15 hours ago • 4 minute read
This photo provided by an unnamed source shows the damaged part of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9, Flight 1282, which was forced to return to Portland International Airport on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024.
This photo provided by an unnamed source shows the damaged part of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9, Flight 1282, which was forced to return to Portland International Airport on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024. PHOTO BY THE OREGONIAN VIA AP /The Associated Press
PORTLAND, Ore. — Federal officials on Saturday ordered the immediate grounding of some Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliners until they are inspected after an Alaska Airlines plane suffered a blowout that left a gaping hole in the side of the fuselage.


The required inspections take around four to eight hours per aircraft and affect about 171 airplanes worldwide.


Alaska Airlines in a statement said that of the 65 737 Max 9 aircraft in its fleet, crews had inspected the paneled-over exits as part of recent maintenance work on 18 planes, and those were cleared to return to service Saturday. The inspection process for the remaining aircraft in the fleet was expected to be completed in the coming days, the company said.

An Alaska Airlines jetliner blew out a portion of its fuselage shortly after takeoff 4.8 kilometres above Oregon late Friday, creating a gaping hole that forced the pilots to make an emergency landing as its 171 passengers and six crew members donned oxygen masks.


No one was seriously hurt as the depressurized plane returned safely to Portland International Airport about 20 minutes after it had departed, but the airline grounded its 65 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft until they can be inspected. The National Transportation Safety Board said Saturday it will investigate.

Passenger Evan Smith said a boy and his mother were sitting in the row where the panel blew out and the child’s shirt was sucked off him and out of the plane.

“You heard a big loud bang to the left rear. A whooshing sound and all the oxygen masks deployed instantly and everyone got those on,” Smith told KATU-TV.



Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci said the inspection of the company 737-9 fleet aircraft could take days to complete. They make up a fifth of the company’s 314 planes.

“We are working with Boeing and regulators to understand what occurred … and will share updates as more information is available,” Minicucci said. “My heart goes out to those who were on this flight — I am so sorry for what you experienced.”

Alaska canceled more than 100 flights, or 15% of its Saturday schedule by midday, according to FlightAware. United said the plane inspections would result in about 60 cancellations.

The Port of Portland, which operates the airport, told KPTV the fire department treated minor injuries at the scene. One person was taken for more treatment but wasn’t seriously hurt.


Flight 1282 had taken off from Portland at 5:07 p.m. Friday for a two-hour flight to Ontario, California. About six minutes later, the window and a chunk of the fuselage blew out as the plane was at about 16,000 feet (4.8 kilometres). One of the pilots declared an emergency and asked for clearance to descend to 10,000 feet (3 kilometres), the altitude where the air would have enough oxygen to breathe safely.

’We need to turn back to Portland,“ the pilot told controllers in a calm voice that she maintained throughout the landing process.

Videos posted by passengers online showed a gaping hole where the window had been and passengers wearing their masks. They applauded when the plane landed safely about 13 minutes after the window blew out. Firefighters then came down the aisle, asking passengers to remain in their seats as they treated the injured.


The aircraft involved rolled off the assembly line and received its certification two months ago, according to online FAA records. The plane had been on 145 flights since entering commercial service on Nov. 11, said FlightRadar24, another tracking service. The flight from Portland was the aircraft’s third of the day.

Aviation experts were stunned a piece would fly off a new aircraft. Anthony Brickhouse, a professor of aerospace safety at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said he has seen panels of fuselage come off planes before, but couldn’t recall one where passengers “are looking at the lights of the city.”

He said the incident is a reminder for passengers to stay buckled in.

“If there had been a passenger in that window seat who just happened to have their seat belt off, we’d be looking at a totally different news story.”


The Max is the newest version of Boeing’s venerable 737, a twin-engine, single-aisle plane frequently used on U.S. domestic flights. The plane went into service in May 2017.

The union representing flight attendants at 19 airlines, including Alaska Airlines, commended the crew for keeping passengers safe.

“Flight Attendants are trained for emergencies and we work every flight for aviation safety first and foremost,” the Association of Flight Attendants said in a statement Saturday.

Two Max 8 jets crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people and leading to a near two-year worldwide grounding of all Max 8 and Max 9 planes. The planes returned to service only after Boeing made changes to an automated flight control system implicated in the crashes.

Last year, the FAA told pilots to limit use of an anti-ice system on the Max in dry conditions because of concern that inlets around the engines could overheat and break away, possibly striking the plane.

Max deliveries have been interrupted at times to fix manufacturing flaws. The company told airlines in December to inspect the planes for a possible loose bolt in the rudder-control system.

— Associated Press reporter Terry Spencer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, contributed to this report. Koenig reported from Dallas. Becky Bohrer contributed from Juneau, Alaska.
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