Investigation of the tragedy with the 737 MAX: Boeing fraud and the fate of the American corporation

The US Senate has opened a hearing on “Aviation Safety and the Future of the Boeing 737 MAX”, timed to coincide with the anniversary of the Lion Air plane crash in Indonesia. What was revealed about Boeing's machinations during the investigation of this tragedy, as well as about the further fate of the American corporation - in the material RIA News.

Фото: Depositphotos

Machine versus man

The Lion Air JT 610 flight departed from Jakarta International Airport to 6: 20 29 on October 2018. After xnumx minutes the plane collapsed at sea, all 189 people on board died. A year later, senators are trying to establish that the company's management was aware of the design problems of the airliner before the crash.

First of all, we are talking about the MCAS computer program, which, when the nose of the aircraft is excessively pulled up, automatically lowered it, transferring the aircraft to a dive. It follows from an official report published last week by the Indonesian Aviation Administration that this program spontaneously turned on more than 13 times in 20 minutes of flight. Including - two seconds after the warning about the danger of a collision with the surface was triggered in the cockpit. A moment later, the plane crashed into the water at a speed of 800 kilometers per hour.

In less than five months, in March, a similar plane crash occurred in Ethiopia. 157 people died.

“While the investigation is ongoing, we know that both crashes involved the reactivation of flight control software called MCAS,” Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg said at a Senate hearing on Tuesday.

On the subject: Six months without Boeing 737 MAX: what has changed in the industry and what passengers should prepare for

“We made mistakes and are correcting them,” he added. The software has been updated since August. — MCAS will become “softer and more sensitive to pilot actions.”

The race for profit

However, the Boeing case has long gone beyond software. The thing is that the largest American corporation deliberately endangered the lives of people for profit, the newspaper writes.

In 2011, Boeing's main competitor, European Airbus launched the Neo line of aircraft with more efficient engines.

The Americans had two options for maintaining leadership: either take on a new model from scratch, spending a billion dollars on the 32 project, or equip the Boeing 737 with engines with an increased turbine diameter, which promised 20 percent fuel economy. They chose the second option, and the 2016 MAX appeared in 737.

However, due to the increased size, the new engines could not be replaced in place of the previous ones - they had to be carried forward, securing higher. As a result, the alignment was disrupted, and the plane began to lift its nose.

Фото: Depositphotos

To fix this defect, we developed the MCAS program, which, when the nose is pulled up excessively, automatically lowered it. The system turned out to be very damp - it turned on even during normal flight. And she lowered the nose of the aircraft four times stronger than the designers envisioned. That is, MCAS did not align the liner, but translated it at the peak.

Moreover, the system is designed in such a way that it is difficult to detect: MCAS silently turned on when it seemed to the computer that the nose was lifting up too much, worked for several seconds, directing the plane to the ground, and “fell asleep” until the next time it reached a critical mode, in its opinion. .

The software had to be certified by the FAA, and this is an expensive and lengthy procedure. In order not to waste time and money, the management of the corporation simply concealed the fact of the existence of this system: MCAS was mentioned exactly once in the Boeing 737 MAX flight manual - in the list of abbreviations.

So they saved once again and condemned people to death: knowing about MCAS, the crew could simply turn off the automation and continue the flight in manual mode. But the pilots did not suspect an insidious computer program. Seeing that the nose of the plane is dropping, and not understanding why this is happening, they pulled the helm towards themselves, trying to overcome the resistance of the automation.

After a few seconds, the MCAS turned off, the resistance at the helm disappeared - and the plane sharply lifted its nose, now for real. Automation woke up again, directing the plane at its peak. This is the picture that the official Lion Air crash report draws.

On the subject: Shocking confession: Boeing knew about the 737 MAX malfunction a year before the airliner's first crash

The main question worrying US legislators today is whether Boeing management realized the full danger of the MCAS situation. In mid-October, The New York Times published internal correspondence between company employees, which showed that back in 2016, Boeing's chief technical pilot for the 737 MAX project, Mark Forkner, informed an unnamed specialist about “egregious” problems with the MCAS system.

“It’s rampant in the simulator,” Forkner said.

Answering a question in the Senate when he found out about this, the CEO of Muilenburg said: even before the 737 MAX crash in Ethiopia. This caused a storm of indignation among lawmakers.

“After the crash in Indonesia, Boeing representatives came to my office and said it was a consequence of pilot error,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal. “And now it turns out that those pilots had no chance.” They were in flying coffins because Boeing decided to hide information about MCAS."

Retribution for greed

Regardless of the outcome of the Senate hearings, the Boeing problems will not end soon. The resumption of 737 MAX flights banned after the Ethiopian disaster is delayed all the time. The aircraft manufacturer hoped that the ban would last no more than three months, but now we are talking about next February.

Фото: Depositphotos

Boeing pays compensation to the victims of air crashes, but this is nothing compared to the amounts that the airlines intend to claim for the inability to operate aircraft. According to experts, their total losses are already approaching ten billion dollars.

Meanwhile, Boeing’s finances left much to be desired: in the third quarter, revenue fell by 21% (to 19,98 billion dollars) compared with the same period last year (25,1 billion). Debts for the year increased by 5,5 billion, while available funds increased by only 1,3 billion, and net cash flow went into minus.

But even airlines ready to resume 737 MAX flights immediately after the ban was lifted strongly doubt that this can be done quickly. The reputation of the aircraft is destroyed, and whether passengers want to fly it is a big question. The largest American air carriers American Airlines and Southwest Airlines have already announced that they will provide customers with the right to refuse the 737 MAX.

On the subject: In Boeing found a new marriage in the aircraft model 737 Max

Exchange analysts also do not believe that the aircraft manufacturer is able to solve its problems in the near future. Last Monday, three influential Wall Street firms lowered Boeing stock forecasts.

“We can no longer defend the stock in light of recent discoveries that significantly increase the risk profile for investors,” Credit Suisse said in a note to clients. “In our interpretation, the key finding is that Boeing appears to have been aware of the faulty MCAS operation prior to certifying the 737 MAX aircraft.”

UBS experts "are no longer confident that the 737 MAX will be in demand by passengers once it returns to the market."

Bank of America Merrill Lynch points to growing uncertainty about the timing of MAX’s return to flight.

“Key issues for investors—risk management and information disclosure—could negatively impact Boeing’s stock price in the foreseeable future,” the bank’s experts warn.

American Airlines flight attendants panic

The Professional Flight Attendants Association (APFA) announced its concerns about the launch of the 737 MAX in a letter to Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg. Writes about this Fox News.

“28 000 flight attendants working for American Airlines refuse to board an aircraft that may be unsafe and call for the highest safety standards to avoid a new tragedy,” APFA President Lori Bassani said in a letter.

A Boeing spokesman said Muilenburg has received a letter and will respond.

As wrote earlier ForumDaily:

• 10 March Ethiopian Airlines' Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft flying from Addis Ababa to Nairobi, crashed 60 km east of the capital of Ethiopia. The crash claimed the lives of 157 people, among whom were citizens of 35 countries, including three Russians.
• This disaster was the second crash of this type of aircraft in six months - at the end of October 2018, the same “Boeing” Indonesian company Lion Air fell into the Java Sea shortly after departure from Jakarta airport. Killed all 189 people on board.
• Immediately after the disaster in Ethiopia many countries have suspended Boeing 737 Max 8 flights.
• The latest flights of the 737 Max 8 family of liners suspended the USA.
• Ethiopian Transport Minister Dagmavit Moges said that the “black boxes” of the crashed 10 March Boeing 737 MAX 8 speak about "Obvious similarities" with the crash of the aircraft of the same model in Indonesia in October 2018. The company does not agree with this.
• Many pilots who had to drive a Boeing 737 MAX crashed in Ethiopia versed in controlling this aircraft model via iPad tablets.

Read also on ForumDaily:

Six months without Boeing 737 MAX: what has changed in the industry and what passengers should prepare for

Boeing will pay compensation to families of 737 MAX disaster victims

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