Boeing Concedes Both 737 Max Accidents Involve MCAS

KUALA LUMPUR, April 5 (Bernama) -- Boeing concedes that both 737 MAX accidents that killed a total of 346 people within a span of five months, had an issue with the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System known as MCAS, which activated in response to the erroneous angle of attack information. “The full details of what happened in the two accidents will be issued by the government authorities in the final reports, but, with the release of the preliminary report of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 accident investigation, it's apparent that in both flights the MCAS, activated in response to erroneous angle of attack information,” Boeing’s Chief Executive Officer, Dennis Muilenburg said in a statement. The history of the industry shows most accidents are caused by a chain of events. “This again is the case here, and we know we can break one of those chain links in these two accidents. As pilots have told us, erroneous activation of the MCAS function can add to what is already a high workload environment. It's our responsibility to eliminate this risk. We own it and we know how to do it.” On March 10, 2019, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed a few minutes after take-off from Addis Ababa killing 157 people on board. Several months earlier in October 2018, Indonesia’s Lion Air Flight JT 610 crashed into the sea minutes after take-off, killing all the 189 people on board. A preliminary report released Thursday ruled out pilot’s error in the Ethiopian Airlines’ crash. Reports stated that pilots repeatedly followed procedures recommended by Boeing but to no avail. Dennis said from the days immediately following the Lion Air accident, Boeing had teams of its top engineers and technical experts working tirelessly in collaboration with the Federal Aviation Administration and our customers to finalize and implement a software update that will ensure accidents like that of Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 never happen again. “We're taking a comprehensive, disciplined approach, and taking the time, to get the software update right. We're nearing completion and anticipate its certification and implementation on the 737 MAX fleet worldwide in the weeks ahead. We regret the impact the grounding has had on our airline customers and their passengers,” he said. Dennis, who is also the chairman and president of Boeing said the update, along with the associated training and additional educational materials that pilots want in the wake of these accidents, will eliminate the possibility of unintended MCAS activation and prevent an MCAS-related accident from ever happening again. “We at Boeing take the responsibility to build and deliver airplanes to our airline customers and to the flying public that is safe to fly and can be safely flown by every single one of the professional and dedicated pilots all around the world. This is what we do at Boeing.” He said Boeing remains confident in the fundamental safety of the 737 MAX. “All who fly on it—the passengers, flight attendants and pilots, including our own families and friends—deserve our best. When the MAX returns to the skies with the software changes to the MCAS function, it will be among the safest airplanes ever to fly.” -- BERNAMA