WSJ on 21 NOV
Regulators Push for Clarity on Boeing 737 Safety Systems After Lion Air Crash
U.S. airlines’ manuals for new 737 models offer inconsistent or confusing details of a second automated antistall feature, critics say
By
Andy Pasztor andAndrew Tangel
Nov. 21, 2018 9:49 p.m. ET U.S. regulators are pressing for clarity on automated flight-control systems in
Boeing Co.’s
BA -0.12% latest 737 models in the wake of last month’s Lion Air crash, according to people familiar with matter, as they seek to address inconsistencies in how airlines have informed pilots about one of the features.The Indonesian-led probe of the
Lion Air crash, which killed 189 people after plunging into the Java Sea at a steep angle and high speed, has revealed that the U.S. airlines describe certain features differently in their pilot manuals for
Boeing’s family of 737 MAX aircraft. A number of veteran aviators, government safety officials and independent experts said the differences have sparked confusion within the aviation community.
Some of the questions regulators, safety experts and pilots have addressed to Boeing and the airlines relate to a system that has been a focus of investigators since early in the probe. That system automatically pushes down the nose of an aircraft that is approaching an aerodynamic stall, a condition that occurs when a plane is flying dangerously slow with its nose too high, threatening a loss of lift.
Goes on but NOTE NOTE NOTE
Indonesian investigators are expected to release a preliminary report in coming days. Boeing is expected to announce a software fix to the MCAS system before the end of the year, according to government and industry officials.