China grounds all Boeing 737 Max 8 planes after fatal crash

[Jamie McKane]

China grounds all Boeing 737 Max 8 planes after fatal crash

China grounded its fleet of Boeing Co. 737 Max 8 jets after a plane operated by Ethiopian Airlines crashed on Sunday, escalating the scrutiny on the best-selling model, which has been involved in two deadly accidents in five months.

Local carriers have until 6 p.m. local time to ground the 96 737 Max jets that they operate, according to Chinese government statements.

[Bloomberg]

 

[Pixies]

Interesting... one of the airlines with the worst track records does this... the writing is in the wall. *edit* I see it was a government decision, not airline.

 

[Lew Skannen]

Good. It should be done by governments around the world if Boeing does not want to take any actions.

 

[koeks525]

Cannot say I am surprised from this move. I can see more airlines following suit.

 

[Lew Skannen]

Ethiopian Airlines grounds Boeing 737 MAX 8 fleet after crash

Ethiopian Airlines said on Monday it had grounded its Boeing 737 MAX 8 fleet after a crash that killed 149 passengers and eight crew.

"Following the tragic accident of ET 302... Ethiopian Airlines has decided to ground all B-737-8 MAX fleet effective yesterday, March 10, until further notice," the state-owned carrier said in a statement released on Twitter.

"Although we don't yet know the cause of the accident, we have to decide to ground the particular fleet as an extra safety precaution," said the airline, Africa's largest.

https://www.news24.com/Africa/News/...s-boeing-737-max-8-fleet-after-crash-20190311

 

[Kosmik]

Comair SA just took delivery of its first end of February too.

 

[justblazethe1st]

when i see things like this i freak out like , im never flying again, which is an irrational fear, i mean we have fatal car accidents every day and i never once said thats it im never driving again. either way now every time i book a flight im gonna ask that it not be a 737

 

[Craig_]

Apparently the 737 is the vivo of the airlines, age old design just patched up.

 

[Arthur]

I'm relieved when it's a 737. One of the safest planes ever made. The 737 MAX has some new automation systems, so if there's a problem that's where its likely to be, along with appropriate pilot training on the new systems.

 

[CAPS LOCK]

Did some reading on the two accidents. It would seem that the angle of attack (AoA) sensors were faulty, thus providing incorrect input readings.

Seemingly causing the aircraft automated systems to self-correct for factors that didn't factually exist. Those pilots must've then reacted in a situation where not only was incorrect instrument information displayed, but also to an aircraft acting funky on its own accord.

The Ethiopian tragedy may have been averted had the pilots followed Boeing's recently issued bulletin on procedures for faulty AoA input, derived from the Indonesian crash. Also, the pilots possibly did follow those procedures, but were unable to control the craft.

Sad. Hopefully this was the last incident and that the root cause is correctly identified and remedied.

 

[InfidelGastro]

Apparently the 737 is the vivo of the airlines, age old design just patched up.

Put that fear in the back of your mind. You can do absolutely nothing about your final destiny. With that said, one is more likely to die in a car wreck than an air disaster. The chances of us getting killed in one is very remote, but it is there. If you're afraid to face something like that, then why get out of bed in the mornings? There are millions of enexpected ways to expire, and it's simply impossible cover them all.

 

[Craig_]

Put that fear in the back of your mind. You can do absolutely nothing about your final destiny. With that said, one is more likely to die in a car wreck than an air disaster. The chances of us getting killed in one is very remote, but it is there. If you're afraid to face something like that, then why get out of bed in the mornings? There are millions of enexpected ways to expire, and it's simply impossible cover them all.

True, but it's like driving around in a datsun go saying I might die anyway, your odds just be higher in a datsun and a 737 max.

 

[Pixies]

I'm relieved when it's a 737. One of the safest planes ever made. The 737 MAX has some new automation systems, so if there's a problem that's where its likely to be, along with appropriate pilot training on the new systems.

The changes to the automation systems are related to the changes to the engines. They are way bigger and mounted in a different position, potentially causing instability when banking at low speeds... that's what the changes to the automation were necessary to correct. That's not an insignificant change IMO.
Crazy that the MCAS addition relates to attack angle sensors, yet they failed to test it with bad attack angle sensor data to see what it would do. That's a significant oversight.

 

[sajunky]

Did some reading on the two accidents. It would seem that the angle of attack (AoA) sensors were faulty, thus providing incorrect input readings.

Seemingly causing the aircraft automated systems to self-correct for factors that didn't factually exist. Those pilots must've then reacted in a situation where not only was incorrect instrument information displayed, but also to an aircraft acting funky on its own accord.

The Ethiopian tragedy may have been averted had the pilots followed Boeing's recently issued bulletin on procedures for faulty AoA input, derived from the Indonesian crash. Also, the pilots possibly did follow those procedures, but were unable to control the craft.

Sad. Hopefully this was the last incident and that the root cause is correctly identified and remedied.

A root cause is known, it is why is sad. I wonder, do they use wind tunnels?

 

[Idiosyncratic]

This move is hardly motivated by safety imo. China is bringing out fancy new airliners and need both clients and increased public support. Making Boeing seem dangerous can go a long way in adding orders to the book.

 

[sajunky]

This move is hardly motivated by safety imo. China is bringing out fancy new airliners and need both clients and increased public support. Making Boeing seem dangerous can go a long way in adding orders to the book.

True or false? We will find out when other airlines follow.

 

[Idiosyncratic]

True or false? We will find out when other airlines follow.

Definitely, but also yes and no. Public perception may well play the biggest role in the grounding of more 737 MAXes rather than safety (with airlines outside of China and Russia)

 

[InfidelGastro]

True, but it's like driving around in a datsun go saying I might die anyway, your odds just be higher in a datsun and a 737 max.

We've all got to die sometime. You just have to accept your fate.

 

[sajunky]

Definitely, but also yes and no. Public perception may well play the biggest role in the grounding of more 737 MAXes rather than safety (with airlines outside of China and Russia)

Now we know, your statement was false. China was not biased. Europe joins wave of countries grounding the 737 Max https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-47536502

 

[Idiosyncratic]

Now we know, your statement was false. China was not biased. Europe joins wave of countries grounding the 737 Max https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-47536502

Maybe I'm missing something... How does public perception still not play the biggest role in the grounding of the Max?

Moreover, my statement can hardly be considered false if China acted without any real of evidence to indicate that which we know to be true now (full story behind MCAS, dysfunctional procedures and memory items, etc)... Europe was forced to take action and so was Kulula - public opinion costs more than the potential loss of income (not to mention that Boeing will be paying compensation!). It's fairly convenient for the Chinese that Boeing is now in much deeper crap than before - and legitimately in this case. Order books are filling as we speak.

Or let's put it this way, if the Chinese DID know and acted based on solid evidence (it's taken months for the full picture to come to light, China acted without even 1/16 of a real picture), then we're dealing with bigger issues than ever imagined.