Boeing 737 Max software update will improve safety

Bradley Prior

Bradley Prior

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Boeing 737 Max software update will improve safety

Boeing announced that it has completed the development of its updated 737 Max software and is now awaiting certification from the FAA.

The company claimed to have tested the updated software for over 360 hours across 207 different flights and is confident that the software is ready to be implemented across its entire fleet.
 
Once all of these issues have been sorted, the 737 Max will be one of the safest planes in the air. This was a case of rushing approval from a certification body too close to the company!
 
JimM said:
Once all of these issues have been sorted, the 737 Max will be one of the safest planes in the air. This was a case of rushing approval from a certification body too close to the company!
Click to expand...

I disagree on "safest". It is fundamentally, aerodynamically flawed. The engines are too big for the body and landing gear. There are many potential other "crash" modes possible, like a stall due to high AOA, now that MCAS has been neutered. Also, why did the AOA sensors fail in the first place? Two in 5 months is not great. They better start working on the new 737 now for 10 years time.
 
Agree. The MAX will ONLY be "safe" IF its automated systems are working. The damn thing is brick kept in the air artificially because it is no longer aerodynamically naturally able to fly without all the automated bells and whistles.
 
im surprsied the MCAS software was not designed to allow the Pilot to turn it off. I dont really understand how all these things work, but having watched and listened more about the software, you only have 5 seconds as the Pilots, to correct the plane, before the software takes complete control. Now why cant the Pilots just not over ride that system as well, and then try and manually take control of the plane again if they see that the software is taking the plane down
 
sounds like a stopgap to get many expensive to park jets back into the air,

this entire story reminds me of the MD11 crashes due to the tail mounted engine causing MD-11's to behave strangely on landing.
and how quickly MD-11's were withdrawn from passenger service, and pushed into cargo hauling almost exclusively.

maybe the same fate awaits the 737 MAX's, how quickly can they all be retrofitted for cargo operations?
and be a very good short/medium haul delivery truck.

while something else gets developed to replaced the stillborn MAX.
 
The ship has already sailed.
As to passengers checking the type of plane they are flying in, for my part it's been simple, Boeing or Airbus - not fussed with the model numbers. For now, not flying in a Boeing, my trust in the company is gone.
This of course is only applicable until the next flying citroen falls from the sky, then it's back to Boeing again.
 
Icemanbrfc said:
im surprsied the MCAS software was not designed to allow the Pilot to turn it off. I dont really understand how all these things work, but having watched and listened more about the software, you only have 5 seconds as the Pilots, to correct the plane, before the software takes complete control. Now why cant the Pilots just not over ride that system as well, and then try and manually take control of the plane again if they see that the software is taking the plane down
Click to expand...

So they don't fly it into the ground because they lost all their money on the stock market. True story.
 
Icemanbrfc said:
im surprsied the MCAS software was not designed to allow the Pilot to turn it off. I dont really understand how all these things work, but having watched and listened more about the software, you only have 5 seconds as the Pilots, to correct the plane, before the software takes complete control. Now why cant the Pilots just not over ride that system as well, and then try and manually take control of the plane again if they see that the software is taking the plane down
Click to expand...
They didnt even tell the pilots that there was software that would override a pilots input. So no need to have a feature to turn something off, that you dont know is even there.
 
zippy said:
They didnt even tell the pilots that there was software that would override a pilots input. So no need to have a feature to turn something off, that you dont know is even there.
Click to expand...

Oh, there is a facility to turn it off. BUT the checklists saw to it that by the time the pilots did switch it off, they could not recover control at low altitudes.
 
Gaz{M} said:
I disagree on "safest". It is fundamentally, aerodynamically flawed. The engines are too big for the body and landing gear. There are many potential other "crash" modes possible, like a stall due to high AOA, now that MCAS has been neutered. Also, why did the AOA sensors fail in the first place? Two in 5 months is not great. They better start working on the new 737 now for 10 years time.
Click to expand...

Most likely a design problem with the sensors themselves.
https://www.heraldnet.com/nation-world/not-just-the-737-angle-of-attack-sensors-have-had-problems/
 
JimM said:
Once all of these issues have been sorted, the 737 Max will be one of the safest planes in the air. This was a case of rushing approval from a certification body too close to the company!
Click to expand...

This is never going to be the case. There are fundemental problems with the geometry of the aircraft, and while a software update may help, it's never hoing to be as safe as planes that don't depend on software to combat inherent design flaws.
 
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