Flaws in the design of Boeing Co’s 737 Max and lack of information on how to deal with malfunctions in one of the jet’s flight-control systems contributed to last year’s crash of Lion Air Flight 610, which killed 189 people, Indonesian investigators found.
In a slideshow to victims’ families, the National Transportation Safety Committee said the 737 Max’s Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS, was approved based on incorrect assumptions and that its reliance on a single angle-of-attack sensor made it vulnerable.
It also criticised the certification process of the plane.
Indonesia is expected to release its final report in the coming days on the disaster that occurred just under a year ago, on Oct 29, 2018.
The controversial MCAS system, which activates when the plane appears to be at risk of stalling, was also implicated in an Ethiopian Airlines crash in March that claimed 157 lives.
The NTSC’s findings could influence regulators worldwide as they assess the fate of Boeing’s best-selling plane.
The jet has been grounded globally since Mar 13, costing the Chicago-based company over US$8 billion. The head of its jetliner division stepped down Tuesday after less than three years in the job.
Today’s presentation in Jakarta indicated that the lack of guidance on MCAS made it harder for crews to respond to automated actions by the system, while a replacement sensor installed on the plane wasn’t properly calibrated during an earlier repair, and that this error hadn’t been detected.
A lack of documentation made it more difficult for maintenance and accident crews to take appropriate actions, a slide showed.
The findings suggest a design flaw with the plane, said Satyendra Pandey, a New Delhi-based independent analyst and former head of strategy at Go Airlines India Ltd.
“Going back to revisit the design itself has tremendous ramifications for Boeing – both in terms of cost and liability,” he said. “It can be assumed that Boeing will contest this and point to software as the flaw.”
A Boeing representative wrote in an email that it was too premature to comment on the report as it hasn’t been officially released by Indonesian investigators. Lion Air didn’t immediately respond to calls seeking comments.
23/10/19 Bloomberg/FMT News
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In a slideshow to victims’ families, the National Transportation Safety Committee said the 737 Max’s Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS, was approved based on incorrect assumptions and that its reliance on a single angle-of-attack sensor made it vulnerable.
It also criticised the certification process of the plane.
Indonesia is expected to release its final report in the coming days on the disaster that occurred just under a year ago, on Oct 29, 2018.
The controversial MCAS system, which activates when the plane appears to be at risk of stalling, was also implicated in an Ethiopian Airlines crash in March that claimed 157 lives.
The NTSC’s findings could influence regulators worldwide as they assess the fate of Boeing’s best-selling plane.
The jet has been grounded globally since Mar 13, costing the Chicago-based company over US$8 billion. The head of its jetliner division stepped down Tuesday after less than three years in the job.
Today’s presentation in Jakarta indicated that the lack of guidance on MCAS made it harder for crews to respond to automated actions by the system, while a replacement sensor installed on the plane wasn’t properly calibrated during an earlier repair, and that this error hadn’t been detected.
A lack of documentation made it more difficult for maintenance and accident crews to take appropriate actions, a slide showed.
The findings suggest a design flaw with the plane, said Satyendra Pandey, a New Delhi-based independent analyst and former head of strategy at Go Airlines India Ltd.
“Going back to revisit the design itself has tremendous ramifications for Boeing – both in terms of cost and liability,” he said. “It can be assumed that Boeing will contest this and point to software as the flaw.”
A Boeing representative wrote in an email that it was too premature to comment on the report as it hasn’t been officially released by Indonesian investigators. Lion Air didn’t immediately respond to calls seeking comments.
23/10/19 Bloomberg/FMT News
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