Originally Posted by
Ian W
Not at all.
I am currently SLF with more than 2 million miles down the back in the last few years and I would happily fly in a Max piloted by someone like RTO or 737 Driver.
However, I am really getting concerned about flying in any aircraft A or B, with some of the other posters here when they are in row 0. You know who you are, rather than fly the aircraft and then follow NNCs apparently you need to know and be briefed on the specific system fault prior to flying the aircraft including basics like just keeping the aircraft in trim, even when it takes the strength of both PF and PM to keep the control column back (and yet the manual electric trim ALWAYS stopped and overrode MCAS). So there they are thumbing a thesaurus about 'runaway' not meaning 'repeated' so we don't trim? Neither of these crashes would have happened if the pilots had trimmed back to unload the pull force as was shown in the penultimate Lion Air flight and the first minutes of the final Lion Air flight - only when the pilots stopped flying the aircraft - trimming - did they crash.
So yes - I am a concerned SLF now: But on ALL flights as I might be in an aircraft zoom climbed into a high level stall and held the wrong side of the drag curve, or one where the PF just decided to stop trimming.
Your opinion !
Although now retired and only SLF but I have over 10 ,000 hours command time on 73s 75s and 76 s.
I have never flown a Max but have looked at a LOT of documentation re MCAS.
I still cant understand how the Max was certified for operation with just ONE component able to drive the most powerful control surface.
Further , despite current Boeing. philosophy, I would want to know and understand EVERYTHING. about a system, particularly one which could kill me, exactly how it works, how it can fail. and how to deal with it and have seen and practiced operation and failures in the simulator, BEFORE becoming type rated.
Many years ago I was posted to an RAF squadron as a replacement pilot for one killed in the Valiant crash believed to have been caused by a runaway stab. The aircraft were not modified BUT we all went into the sim to practice the recovery procedure as it was found that full elevator could just overcome the stab. Deflection. Boeing please note.
After that experience I absolutely beleive that if MCAS is retained its authority should not be greater than can be overcome be elevator input.
Until the. MAX crashes I had the very highest respect for Boeing aircraft. With the Max MCAS they, to quote a senior retired NTSB. inspector , dropped the ball, bigtime.
I am sure the Max will be returned to service in due course as a very safe aircraft. But in its single A of A Sensor coupled to its MCAS system it should never have been certified.
When I did my 737 conversion at Boeing in Seattle back in 1980 our instructors were adamant that all their aircraft were designed to be flown with ease by any and all of the worlds airline pilots. The Max seems to have beaten four with tragic results.