MAX’s Return Delayed by FAA Reevaluation of 737 Safety Procedures

[patplan]

Additional tidbits from NTSC's Lion Air Flight JT610 Crash Investigation Final Report, as mentioned by a different news source:


...
Missed Opportunity

The report said problems with flight-data readings were initially reported on an Oct 26 flight from Tianjin in China to the Indonesian city of Manado. An examination of the angle-of-attack sensor showed it became unreliable in cold temperatures. An engineer in Manado suggested the crew continue to Denpasar in Bali for repairs.

"This indicated that the aircraft was released with known possible recurring problem," the report said.

On a flight from Denpasar the day before the crash, the crew on the 737 Max ignored malfunctioning indicators, according to the NTSC. It said the pilot was confident about continuing because the aircraft was controllable and the weather along the route was good. The decision to keep flying was "highly unusual" after getting warnings for an imminent stall, the report said.

Previous reports have shown that an off-duty pilot traveling in the cockpit of that flight helped disable the malfunctioning control system. The NTSC said Friday that the captain had asked for the deadheading flight crew's assistance, and kept the fasten seat-belt sign on.

"These actions indicated that the captain was aware of the need to use all available resources to alleviate the matter to complete the flight to the destination," it said.

The problems encountered weren't properly detailed in the post-flight report, which was filed outside office hours and not processed until the following day, the NTSC said. "The incomplete report became a hazard as the known or suspected defects were not reported which might make the engineer unable to properly maintain the airworthiness of the aircraft."

The Crash

The crew on the doomed flight, who might not have been aware of the previous problems, failed to complete checks on the aircraft due to distractions from the flight system, increasing their stress levels, the report said. They also didn't declare an emergency or asked for special handling, which would have helped to reduce their workload.

There seemed to be a lack of communication among the flight crew, with the captain not explicitly saying how much difficulty he was experiencing controlling the aircraft, it said. Most of the components of effective crew coordination were not achieved, resulting in failure to achieve the common goal of flying the aircraft safely...

Source:
- https://www.chinadailyhk.com/article...?newsId=110524