https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03...max-8-similarities-to-lion-air-crash/10910460
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Ethiopia's Boeing 737 MAX 8 black box data 'shows clear similarities' with Lion Air crash
Updated about an hour ago
Photo: One of the black box flight recorders from the crashed Ethiopian Airlines jet. (AP: BEA)
Related Story: Before the Boeing 737 MAX 8, another airline grounded its 'exciting' new fleet
Related Story: Boeing's pausing deliveries of the 737 MAX, and it's going to cost billions
Related Story: Lion Air pilots fought against automated nose dive on doomed flight: report
Analysis of the data from the black boxes of an Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed, killing all 157 people on board, showed "clear similarities" with an earlier crash of the same jet model, a spokesperson for the Ethiopian Transport Ministry has confirmed.
Key points:
However, US officials have told Reuters they had not yet validated the data, emphasising "the investigation remains in the very early stages".
In October, a Lion Air crash killed all 189 people onboard, after pilots fought against the jet's automated nose dive.
Both planes were Boeing's top-selling jet model, the 737 MAX 8, and pilots in both crashes reported flight control problems during take-off.
In 2018, US pilots had also reported seperate issues anonymously to NASA regarding automated flight control problems, but no direct action was taken in response.
Photo: Ethiopian air crash authorities have been leading the crash investigation with assistance from France's authority, the BEA. (Flickr: Alan Wilson)
Concern over the plane's safety caused aviation authorities worldwide to ground the model, wiping billions of dollars off Boeing's market value.
At present, Boeing is continuing to make 737 MAX models, despite it placing a global ban on all flights of the aircraft.
About 5,000 737 MAX aircraft are on orders from carriers around the world, although some carriers such as Lion Air have suspended their orders until the model's safety can be guaranteed.
"We will let you know more after three or four days."
Boeing and American authorities now investigating
Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.
Video: The acting US Federal Aviation Administration director explains 'new data' that led to the MAX series' suspension. (ABC News)
Under international rules, a preliminary report on the crash must be released within 30 days.
The Seattle Times reported that the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) "pushed the agency's safety engineers to delegate safety assessments to Boeing itself".
The report said this decision led engineers to "understate" the power of the 737 MAX 8's automated anti-stall system, known as MCAS (Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System), which pushes the plane down if it detects a sharp vertical climb that could risk stalling the plane.
After the Ethiopian Airlines crash, aviation experts and pilots pointed to the MAX 8's MCAS as one potential reason for the accidents.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has said satellite-based tracking data shows that the movements of the Ethiopian Airlines flight were similar to those of October's Lion Air crash.
The planes in both crashes flew with erratic altitude changes that indicated the pilots struggled to override fatal nose dives triggered by automated controls.
After the Ethiopian Airlines crash, aviation experts and pilots have pointed to the MAX 8's low-altitude warning system — where the plane automatically tips the plane down to prevent it from stalling — as one potential reason for the accidents.
What we know about the 737 MAX
Boeing's newest version of its most popular plane, the 737 MAX, is again in the spotlight after another deadly crash minutes after take-off.
A FAA spokesperson did not respond to the newspaper's queries 11 days before the fatal Ethiopian Airlines accident, who cited a "busy week".
The FAA declined to comment on the report but referred to previous statements about the certification process.
It has said the 737 MAX certification process followed the FAA's standard certification process.
While Boeing has repeatedly expressed confidence in the aircraft's safety, it is now working on a software update with the FAA amid suspicions that faulty sensors and software contributed to the two crashes that killed 346 people in less than six months.
Thousands mourn dead in Addis Ababa
Photo: Christian funeral services have commenced for the Ethiopian Airlines crash victims. (AP: Mulugeta Ayene)
Meanwhile, thousands mourned the Ethiopian plane crash victims on Sunday (local time), accompanying 17 empty caskets draped in the national flag through the streets of the capital as some victims' relatives fainted and fell to the ground.
The service came one day after officials began delivering bags of earth to family members of the 157 victims of the crash instead of the remains of their loved ones, because the identification process is expected to take such a long time.
Family members confirmed they were given a 1 kilogram sack of scorched earth taken from the crash site.
Many relatives already have gathered at the rural, dusty crash site outside Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa.
Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.
Video: Families offered charred earth from crash for burials (Photo: AP) (ABC News)
The victims of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 came from 35 countries and included luminaries in literature, botany and numerous humanitarian workers.
Elias Bilew said he had worked with one of the victims, Sintayehu Shafi, for the past eight years.
Topics: air-transport, disasters-and-accidents, software, engineering, defence-and-aerospace-industries, air-and-space, ethiopia
First posted about 3 hours ago
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/...at-is-the-mcas-system-on-the-boeing-737-max-8
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Ethiopian Airlines crash: What is the MCAS system on the Boeing 737 Max 8?
A new, unpainted 737 MAX 9 at Boeing's plant in Renton, Washington, on March 17, 2019.PHOTO: NYTIMES
Published
4 hours ago
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WASHINGTON (AFP) - Similarities between the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes, confirmed by black box data, have focused attention on an anti-stalling system used in the new Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft.
The Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) is an automated safety feature on the 737 Max 8 designed to prevent the plane from entering into a stall, or losing lift.
Both the Lion Air jet, which crashed in October, killing 189 people, and the Ethiopian Airlines aircraft, which went down a week ago Sunday, leaving 157 people dead, were fitted with the system.
Both planes experienced similarly erratic steep climbs and descents and fluctuating airspeeds before crashing shortly after takeoff.
A malfunction of the system was implicated in the Lion Air accident in Indonesia.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said findings from the crash site and "newly refined satellite data" warranted "further investigation of the possibility of a shared cause for the two incidents."
The 737 Max 8 and 9 have been grounded worldwide since the Ethiopia crash, and on Friday industry sources said Boeing plans to upgrade the MCAS system in the "coming weeks."
Related Story
Black box shows similarities between Lion Air, Ethiopian Airlines crashes: Ethiopian transport minister
Related Story
Boeing's safety analysis of 737 Max flight control had crucial flaws
MCAS was introduced by Boeing on the 737 Max 8 because its heavier, more fuel-efficient engines changed the aerodynamic qualities of the workhorse aircraft and can cause the plane's nose to pitch up in certain conditions during manual flight.
Angle of attack sensors on the aircraft tell the MCAS to automatically point the nose of the plane down if it is in danger of going into a stall.
This is done through horizontal stabilizers on the plane's tail which are activated by the aircraft's flight control computer.
According to Boeing, MCAS does not control the plane during normal flight but "improves the behavior of the airplane" during "non-normal" situations.
These could be steep turns or after takeoff when a plane is climbing with flaps up at speeds that are close to stall speed.
According to the flight data recorder, the pilots of Lion Air Flight 610 struggled to control the aircraft as the automated MCAS system repeatedly pushed the plane's nose down following takeoff.
The pilots of the Ethiopian Airlines plane reported similar difficulty before the aircraft plunged into the ground shortly after takeoff.
Boeing was criticised
A preliminary report on the Lion Air Flight 610 accident blamed it in part on a faulty angle of attack sensor that triggered the MCAS system and automatically forced the plane's nose down.
Pilots flying the same Lion Air plane the previous day had managed to override the automated flight control system.
Related Story
What we know about Boeing 737 Max crash in Ethiopia and what comes next
Related Story
Piece found in wreckage shows Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max jet was set to dive, source says
Boeing came in for some criticism after the Lion Air crash for allegedly failing to adequately inform 737 pilots about the functioning of MCAS or provide training about the system.
Following the Lion Air crash, Boeing issued a bulletin to airlines operating the 737 Max 8 advising pilots how to override the MCAS system.
The US aircraft manufacturer issued a statement on Monday saying it was too early to understand the cause of the Ethiopian Airlines accident.
Boeing also said it was working on software updates to the MCAS system which would be deployed across the 737 Max fleet.
It said procedures already exist to "safely handle the unlikely event of erroneous data coming from an angle of attack (AOA) sensor," the suspected cause of the Lion Air crash.
"The pilot will always be able to override the flight control law (MCAS) using electric trim or manual trim," the aircraft manufacturer said.
Boeing has described the Max series as its fastest-selling family of planes, with more than 5,000 orders placed to date from about 100 customers.
But not since the 1970s - when the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 suffered successive fatal incidents - has a new model been involved in two deadly accidents in such a short period.
Print Email Facebook Twitter More
Ethiopia's Boeing 737 MAX 8 black box data 'shows clear similarities' with Lion Air crash
Updated about an hour ago
Photo: One of the black box flight recorders from the crashed Ethiopian Airlines jet. (AP: BEA)
Related Story: Before the Boeing 737 MAX 8, another airline grounded its 'exciting' new fleet
Related Story: Boeing's pausing deliveries of the 737 MAX, and it's going to cost billions
Related Story: Lion Air pilots fought against automated nose dive on doomed flight: report
Analysis of the data from the black boxes of an Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed, killing all 157 people on board, showed "clear similarities" with an earlier crash of the same jet model, a spokesperson for the Ethiopian Transport Ministry has confirmed.
Key points:
- French air authorities have been analysing data from the Ethiopian black box
- Crashes of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 have killed 346 people in less than six months
- Friends and family of the Ethiopian crash victims have begun funeral services
However, US officials have told Reuters they had not yet validated the data, emphasising "the investigation remains in the very early stages".
In October, a Lion Air crash killed all 189 people onboard, after pilots fought against the jet's automated nose dive.
Both planes were Boeing's top-selling jet model, the 737 MAX 8, and pilots in both crashes reported flight control problems during take-off.
In 2018, US pilots had also reported seperate issues anonymously to NASA regarding automated flight control problems, but no direct action was taken in response.
Photo: Ethiopian air crash authorities have been leading the crash investigation with assistance from France's authority, the BEA. (Flickr: Alan Wilson)
Concern over the plane's safety caused aviation authorities worldwide to ground the model, wiping billions of dollars off Boeing's market value.
At present, Boeing is continuing to make 737 MAX models, despite it placing a global ban on all flights of the aircraft.
About 5,000 737 MAX aircraft are on orders from carriers around the world, although some carriers such as Lion Air have suspended their orders until the model's safety can be guaranteed.
"It was the same case with the Indonesian [Lion Air] one. There were clear similarities between the two crashes so far," spokesperson Muse Yiheyis said.
"The data was successfully recovered. Both the American team and our [Ethiopian] team validated it. The Minister thanked the French Government."We will let you know more after three or four days."
Boeing and American authorities now investigating
Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.
Video: The acting US Federal Aviation Administration director explains 'new data' that led to the MAX series' suspension. (ABC News)
Under international rules, a preliminary report on the crash must be released within 30 days.
The Seattle Times reported that the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) "pushed the agency's safety engineers to delegate safety assessments to Boeing itself".
The report said this decision led engineers to "understate" the power of the 737 MAX 8's automated anti-stall system, known as MCAS (Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System), which pushes the plane down if it detects a sharp vertical climb that could risk stalling the plane.
After the Ethiopian Airlines crash, aviation experts and pilots pointed to the MAX 8's MCAS as one potential reason for the accidents.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has said satellite-based tracking data shows that the movements of the Ethiopian Airlines flight were similar to those of October's Lion Air crash.
The planes in both crashes flew with erratic altitude changes that indicated the pilots struggled to override fatal nose dives triggered by automated controls.
After the Ethiopian Airlines crash, aviation experts and pilots have pointed to the MAX 8's low-altitude warning system — where the plane automatically tips the plane down to prevent it from stalling — as one potential reason for the accidents.
What we know about the 737 MAX
Boeing's newest version of its most popular plane, the 737 MAX, is again in the spotlight after another deadly crash minutes after take-off.
A FAA spokesperson did not respond to the newspaper's queries 11 days before the fatal Ethiopian Airlines accident, who cited a "busy week".
The FAA declined to comment on the report but referred to previous statements about the certification process.
It has said the 737 MAX certification process followed the FAA's standard certification process.
While Boeing has repeatedly expressed confidence in the aircraft's safety, it is now working on a software update with the FAA amid suspicions that faulty sensors and software contributed to the two crashes that killed 346 people in less than six months.
Thousands mourn dead in Addis Ababa
Photo: Christian funeral services have commenced for the Ethiopian Airlines crash victims. (AP: Mulugeta Ayene)
Meanwhile, thousands mourned the Ethiopian plane crash victims on Sunday (local time), accompanying 17 empty caskets draped in the national flag through the streets of the capital as some victims' relatives fainted and fell to the ground.
The service came one day after officials began delivering bags of earth to family members of the 157 victims of the crash instead of the remains of their loved ones, because the identification process is expected to take such a long time.
Family members confirmed they were given a 1 kilogram sack of scorched earth taken from the crash site.
Many relatives already have gathered at the rural, dusty crash site outside Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa.
Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.
Video: Families offered charred earth from crash for burials (Photo: AP) (ABC News)
The victims of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 came from 35 countries and included luminaries in literature, botany and numerous humanitarian workers.
Elias Bilew said he had worked with one of the victims, Sintayehu Shafi, for the past eight years.
"He was such a good person; he doesn't deserve this. He was the pillar for his whole family," Mr Bilew said.
ABC/wiresTopics: air-transport, disasters-and-accidents, software, engineering, defence-and-aerospace-industries, air-and-space, ethiopia
First posted about 3 hours ago
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https://www.straitstimes.com/world/...at-is-the-mcas-system-on-the-boeing-737-max-8
Recommended by
Ethiopian Airlines crash: What is the MCAS system on the Boeing 737 Max 8?
Published
4 hours ago
Facebook Twitter Email
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Similarities between the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes, confirmed by black box data, have focused attention on an anti-stalling system used in the new Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft.
The Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) is an automated safety feature on the 737 Max 8 designed to prevent the plane from entering into a stall, or losing lift.
Both the Lion Air jet, which crashed in October, killing 189 people, and the Ethiopian Airlines aircraft, which went down a week ago Sunday, leaving 157 people dead, were fitted with the system.
Both planes experienced similarly erratic steep climbs and descents and fluctuating airspeeds before crashing shortly after takeoff.
A malfunction of the system was implicated in the Lion Air accident in Indonesia.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said findings from the crash site and "newly refined satellite data" warranted "further investigation of the possibility of a shared cause for the two incidents."
The 737 Max 8 and 9 have been grounded worldwide since the Ethiopia crash, and on Friday industry sources said Boeing plans to upgrade the MCAS system in the "coming weeks."
Related Story
Black box shows similarities between Lion Air, Ethiopian Airlines crashes: Ethiopian transport minister
Related Story
Boeing's safety analysis of 737 Max flight control had crucial flaws
MCAS was introduced by Boeing on the 737 Max 8 because its heavier, more fuel-efficient engines changed the aerodynamic qualities of the workhorse aircraft and can cause the plane's nose to pitch up in certain conditions during manual flight.
Angle of attack sensors on the aircraft tell the MCAS to automatically point the nose of the plane down if it is in danger of going into a stall.
This is done through horizontal stabilizers on the plane's tail which are activated by the aircraft's flight control computer.
According to Boeing, MCAS does not control the plane during normal flight but "improves the behavior of the airplane" during "non-normal" situations.
These could be steep turns or after takeoff when a plane is climbing with flaps up at speeds that are close to stall speed.
According to the flight data recorder, the pilots of Lion Air Flight 610 struggled to control the aircraft as the automated MCAS system repeatedly pushed the plane's nose down following takeoff.
The pilots of the Ethiopian Airlines plane reported similar difficulty before the aircraft plunged into the ground shortly after takeoff.
Boeing was criticised
A preliminary report on the Lion Air Flight 610 accident blamed it in part on a faulty angle of attack sensor that triggered the MCAS system and automatically forced the plane's nose down.
Pilots flying the same Lion Air plane the previous day had managed to override the automated flight control system.
Related Story
What we know about Boeing 737 Max crash in Ethiopia and what comes next
Related Story
Piece found in wreckage shows Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max jet was set to dive, source says
Boeing came in for some criticism after the Lion Air crash for allegedly failing to adequately inform 737 pilots about the functioning of MCAS or provide training about the system.
Following the Lion Air crash, Boeing issued a bulletin to airlines operating the 737 Max 8 advising pilots how to override the MCAS system.
The US aircraft manufacturer issued a statement on Monday saying it was too early to understand the cause of the Ethiopian Airlines accident.
Boeing also said it was working on software updates to the MCAS system which would be deployed across the 737 Max fleet.
It said procedures already exist to "safely handle the unlikely event of erroneous data coming from an angle of attack (AOA) sensor," the suspected cause of the Lion Air crash.
"The pilot will always be able to override the flight control law (MCAS) using electric trim or manual trim," the aircraft manufacturer said.
Boeing has described the Max series as its fastest-selling family of planes, with more than 5,000 orders placed to date from about 100 customers.
But not since the 1970s - when the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 suffered successive fatal incidents - has a new model been involved in two deadly accidents in such a short period.