This poorly handled icing software glitch could have occurred in the ITCZ over mid-Atlantic then the story may have had a different outcome.
This is called a common mode failure. ALL aircraft with software controls that have been built on prior assumptions - even if the software is dual designed for resilience - can suffer these failures. Yes they are rare but when a software failure like this occurs ALL your software controlled super reliable engines are likely to go. Are even your engineers on telemetry to your engines aware of the wrong assumptions made by the analysts, software designers, programmers and verification testers?
I'm right in the middle of that program, and I can absolutely guarantee that event had absolutely nothing to do with software - glitch or otherwise. You're basically just making
up.
It is related to Ice Crystal Icing - a poorly understood phenomena that has also affected CF6, PW2000, and GE90 engines over the years.
GE is looking at addressing the GEnx issue using software, but that's just because that can be done quicker and cheaper than a hardware change. It's also far from a given that the s/w change will actually work.
