RUSHED TO COMPETE- ROGUE BOEING 737 MAX-8 PLANES
DISCLAIMER
The information provided herein is a summary of news feeds and online reports revealed by sources. The sources of the following content are purely secondary and hundred percent purity of the content cannot be assured. The content is further filtered to provide a summary hence it is neither technical nor completely accurate. The article goes a further mile by sharing some personal points of views too without the intention of intimidating, inflicting fear or criticizing anyone or anything.
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There is no doubt in the fact that competition is what is keeping this world alive. It is due to this factor that we are being availed with better and better goods and services day in day out. Consequently, this leads to many companies being shut down because they cannot keep up with the heat of the situation. The big question here is that is this competition really worth putting lives at stake? We are going to study this question with a look at a scandal involving of one of the greatest rivalries of the century, Boeing versus Airbus.
1 December 2010 marked the beginning of a race towards a finish that would cost many their lives. It was the continuation of a rivalry between Airbus and Boeing that in the long run went too far. Air bus launched the A320 family which was a response to Boeing’s B737 series. The A320neo was meant to directly compete with the next generation B737Max. In July 2011, Boeing learnt that American Airlines was about to order about 200 of the A320neos. This sent shockwaves across the Boeing executive panel and they had to act fast to keep up their side of the competition. There was no doubt that the new idea would be implemented on the B737Max, the best-selling in their fleet.
The major attraction of the Airbus 320neo to airlines across the world was that it was more fuel efficient in midrange flights as compared to B737, A350, A330 and B787 hence the name of the generation NEO, which stands for New Engine Option. It was also equipped with state-of-the-art cockpit, upgraded avionics aerodynamically optimized wings and a brand-new interior. This is what Boeing was really up against. They had to act fast or get knocked out of the race and with the outcome in front of the whole world, that didn’t end well did it?
In February 2011 Boeing CEO made it official that they are going to do a new airplane, that was quick wasn’t it? Let’s see where it leads to. This was a decision accelerated by an order record for a new commercial airliner set by the A320neo. Airbus’ new aircraft hit the market nine months ahead of Boeing’s newest 737 model this meant that pressure was mounting and work had to be sped up. Obviously, Boeing didn’t start from scratch to develop a new plane but instead reengined a Max. Boeing asked for half the orders given to Airbus by American Airlines so as to reengine a 737 and they agreed.
Everything was rushed to completion so as to compete with the all new neo. Boeing hastened the whole process right from deciding on the modifications all the way to its launch. Undoubtedly, there was a lot of dust put on top to cover the earth underneath. Employees were put under pressure to minimize changes and to cut costs and to get it done quickly. We all know where that led to, don’t we? The lives of 346 people aboard gambled with and lost. They even tried to avoid costly retraining of pilots hence they could save of flight simulator trainings. This would also minimise the time pilots took to train for the new 737Max therefore this would enable the aircraft to be in the air as soon as possible.
The reengining process wasn’t well looked at. Despite being aware of the flaws they went on with the initial idea. The new engine that was supposed to compete with the newer Airbus rival engines, the CFM LEAP nacelle and The PW1100G nacelle, was too big to fit under the regular 53-year old Boeing 737 body but Boeing was not to be stopped. They instead decided to move the engine forward and upwards (aerodynamics tampered with here). This caused a serious lift effect which would cause the aircraft to pitch up and bring about stalling, a problem they had to take care of if they wanted to beat airbus in the race. To fix they came up with a computer program called Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) which would force the plane’s nose to pitch down. This system could be activated by just one sensor. The MCAS was not heavily reviewed and neither did the engineers fully understand the concept of the MCAS.
The new Max was a soaring success in the market. Pilots all over the world were presented with a 56-minute iPad course for training themselves and Boeing claimed that it was pretty much the same as the old aircraft. Astonishingly, nowhere had Boeing mentioned about the MCAS anti-stall system. Just before its launch the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) hurried along the approval process of this aircraft. It was in fact discovered that for years the FAA gave Boeing the authority to largely certify its own aircrafts, something is fishy isn’t it? The new aircraft’s launch wasn’t an exception either, the FAA employees faced pressure from above to complete the process as soon as possible. When questioned, the FAA claimed that they did not want to come between the competition hence they acted fast to get the plane in the sky. If we analyse this carefully, isn’t it odd that the authority in charge of fair play in this competition is the same one that considers itself inferior and encouraged the harshness in the race? The cosiness of this relationship led to betrayal to the rest of the world and the death of 346 people. What was done was done and at long last the plane hit the skies after airlines across the world gave huge orders to Boeing for the Max 8 and aviation continued as normal until disasters hit and reality started to unfold its truth.
29th October 2018, the day the disaster happened. Indonesian airline, Lion Air 610, took off from Jakarta but soon afterwards it crashed into the Java Sea. At 0630hrs local time it nose-dived into the sea killing all 189 people on board. Just twelve minutes after take-off the pilots were faced with a monster released from its cage about which the pilots had no knowledge. Those must have been the most horrific twelve minutes of their lives for the people on board, to make the matters worse they turned out to be their final minutes. Shockingly, Boeing’s immediate impulse was to declare it pilot error despite being aware of their aircraft’s new systems. Indonesian investigators put across that it was due to a faulty system on board. At first it did seem like pilot error and Boeing was quick to give it that mask but the MCAS was soon revealed. Preliminary reports suggested that technical problems had been reported on previous flights as well. In spite of these problems Lion Air put the flight back into service.
Boeing mentioned that it had included the appropriate procedures to be carried out in the event of unintended horizontal stabiliser movement in the flight manuals. It defended itself by saying that the correct procedures for the situation were not followed hence leading to the fatal crash. All this was due to legal liability. It was later found out that there was a problem with the plane. Boeing then admitted the existence of the MCAS system on the plane and they thought that they had fixed it. Pilots round the globe were shocked beyond their wits. They complained that there was no mention of this anywhere in the books, the training period nor the checklist. Victims’ families sued Boeing over alleged faults and held them responsible for the death of their loved ones. After five months of cranking up the system Boeing finally declared that their improved 737 Max 8 were fixed and safe to fly again. Okay, airlines and pilots bought that claim and flights on the 737 Max 8 continued as normal and orders still flooding in.
Disaster number two, 10th March 2019, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashes just six minutes after take off killing all 157 people aboard. According to the Ethiopian Aviation Industry, this is the deadliest accident involving an aircraft in their fleet. Two minutes after take off the aircraft’s MCAS system activated which led to the plane’s nose pitching downwards and crashed in farm field near Bishoftu at a speed of about 700 miles per hour. This crash was quite similar to the Lion Air Flight 610 crash five months ago hence fingers were once again raised on Boeing. Ethiopian Airlines led by grounding their 737 Max planes and the rest of the flight operators around the world followed. Several aviation authorities grounded the aircrafts under their jurisdiction. Initially the FAA declined to ground the B737 Max 8s under their jurisdiction but after being presented with facts from the crash sites they did the latter. Due to the similarities in the crashes of E302 and JT610, the Indonesian investigation Authority decided it would be more convenient if the two investigation bodies carried out their investigations concurrently to collect as much data as possible and link the two crashes more efficiently. This time round Ethiopian officials said that pilots followed instructions provided by Boeing and approved by the FAA included emergency procedures therefore ‘pilot error’ was not a blame to be considered here.
Boeing President and CEO admitted the fault in their MCAS and said that the company will review the preliminary reports and take any additional steps necessary to enhance the safety of their aircraft. Some claimed that the aircraft had come into close contact with a foreign object after take- off but this wasn’t the case as has been linked to previous crashes.
Another fault that can be pin pointed is that the MCAS was activated by just a single sensor and this was a grave mistake since this one sensor did not take into account a lot of other factors. In both cases the crashes happened just shortly after take-off which implies that the MCAS activated just after take-off. This interprets to the fact that there was no sensor, no equipment or any system which would tell the aircraft that the aircraft’s nose is up not because it is stalling but because it is taking off. From a personal point of view, if Boeing would have been able to put in place several sophisticated systems to work together with the MCAS then maybe, just maybe today the world’s population would have been a plus of three hundred and forty-six people.
Airlines and aviation authorities across the world have grounded the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircrafts until there is a definite proof of the aircraft being completely fixed and a more that hundred percent reassurance that JT610 and ET302 will not repeat itself. As an add-on pilots worldwide have drawn back from flying the 737 Max aircraft until they are sure that it’s good to go. Pilots and airlines all over stand with their passengers for the safety of their lives.
So many people have their eyes on this case and are eagerly waiting for a verdict. Already Boeing is supposed to pay some compensation to the affected families but the big decision is still pending. There is a projection by Forbes Magazine which states that the 737 Max 8 planes will not fly before 2020. What are your views about this case? Is this murder, deception, industrial flaw or just an ordinary failure? Whatever it may be termed as it doesn’t change the fact that it has changed the lives of many in several ways, for some they consider their lives at an edge.
Today, the reputation of the world’s largest and most successful aviation company lies in grave danger. This scandal has raised a lot of questions on the aviation industry concerning a lot of subjects. The main question here is just how safe are our planes? Air travel started with a lot of visionary thoughts but I don’t think that the current generation of the aviation industry is living up to the level they should, such mediocrity! Anyways, this should not lift our trust from the aviation industry as there are systems in place that regulate such kind of behaviour.
Conclusively, we could say that air travel is still safe if we are to overlook a few factors that compromise its safety. If everyone and every body in the aviation industry conducts its duties in a sophisticated manner and with the deserved dedication without influence of panic, greed or external pressure then air travel can be as reliable as ever.
REFERENCES
2. http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/03/report-the-regulatory-failures-of-the-boeing-737-max.html
3. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-46121127
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_737_MAX
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A320neo_family
6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aO7_indbfME
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopian_Airlines_Flight_302