Ethiopian Airlines flight to Nairobi crashes with 'no survivors' of 157 people aboard

Sankari · 11 Mar 2019 at 09:16

An Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa to Nairobi has crashed, killing all 149 passengers and eight crew members on board. Flight ET 302, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 lost contact with air traffic controllers six minutes after take-off.

Citizens from 35 countries were on board the flight, which was likely carrying people to attend a major United Nations environmental conference in Nairobi. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it had no information that Australians were on board the flight.

(Source).

This is newsworthy not just for the suddenness of the crash and the huge loss of life, but also because it involves the troubled Boeing 737 MAX.

Two 737 MAX 8s have now crashed within the past 6 months (the first was in Indonesia, October 2018). Both incidents involved newly delivered planes that failed at takeoff. There is evidence that the 737 MAX's Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System is to blame.

China has responded by ordering all Chinese airlines to temporarily ground their MAX 8s until further notice. This will impact a total of 96 planes. Ethiopian Airlines and Cayman Airways have followed suit.

Sankari · 11 Mar 2019 at 10:35

stuman said:
Even aircraft come with DLC nowadays...

New 'Fly Without Crashing in the First 13 Minutes' patch scheduled for Easter release. Pre-order now!

I just hope this doesn't turn out to be the Star Citizen of aviation software.

Sankari · 11 Mar 2019 at 16:01

The FAA is investigating another incident involving a 737.

HOUSTON — Federal authorities say a United Airlines flight declared an emergency when an engine shut down as the plane descended into Houston.

Flight 1168 was carrying 174 passengers and six crew members late Sunday when the engine trouble began near George Bush Intercontinental Airport. The Boeing 737-900 was traveling from Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey.

(Source).

Sankari · 12 Mar 2019 at 13:06

More than 20 airlines have now grounded the 737 MAX.

Sankari · 12 Mar 2019 at 23:45

Grounded by 36 countries now. USA and Canada are still holding out.

Sankari · 13 Mar 2019 at 03:48

More pilots coming forward with their experience of faults on the MAX:

Airline pilots on at least two US flights have reported that an automated system seemed to cause their Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes to tilt down suddenly.

In reports filed last year in a database compiled by NASA, the pilots said that soon after engaging the autopilot on their planes, the nose tilted down sharply.

In both cases they recovered quickly after disconnecting the autopilot, they said.

The problem as described by the pilots, however, did not appear related to a new automated anti-stall system that was suspected of contributing to a deadly October crash in Indonesia.

(Source).

Isolated incidents, or a pattern emerging?

Sankari · 4 Apr 2019 at 22:50

Boeing has finally admitted that they are responsible for the crashes.

(Source).

Sankari · 4 Apr 2019 at 23:27

Dis86 said:
That doesn't sound like they're accepting it. They're just apologising

They're admitting that bad data was responsible for the fault, and that this was caused by the automated flight system.

'Boeing CEO acknowledges — for the first time — that bad data played role in 737 Max crashes.'

Sankari · 19 Jun 2019 at 08:34

Secretly recorded audio has emerged of American pilots demanding answers from Boeing after the first fatal incident involving the now notorious 737 Max 'Death Plane.'

Boeing's response 'We didn't tell you because we didn't think it would make any difference, and we're still not going to tell you for the same reason.'

Five months later, another 737 Max crashed.

Sankari · 23 Jun 2019 at 04:49

Boeing is now being sued by more than 400 pilots in a huge class action suit which alleges 'unprecedented cover-up.'

The pilots are claiming 'significant lost wages, among other economic and non-economic damages' since the 737 Max was grounded.

Sankari · 23 Jun 2019 at 06:48

Efour said:
so post number #2 was right then?

Considering that the problem has been identified as design flaws in the MCAS software which Boeing neglected to tell anyone about, the answer to your question is 'Apparently not.'

But in light of the MAX's two fatal crashes, questions were raised about the software's capacity to determine the AOA correctly, as the MCAS system only relies on two AOA sensors.

Critics of this design choice said this made the plane vulnerable to faulty or mismatched readings, and Boeing made a cockpit display alerting mismatched AOA readings to MAX pilots an optional extra.