Ethiopian airliner down in Africa

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Ok I got the link to the straits times. It majors on someone looking in manuals for a solution. That is not how it works. There is never time to look in a manual in a critical situation on a plane. You are trained how to deal with it from memory, [MEMORY ITEMS] and Runaway Stab is a memory drill. Or, you read the Quick Ref Handbook which is beside the pilots at all times and is easy to get to in a matter of seconds. All pilots know this book inside out, or should. The article also refers to a third pilot fixing the problem the previous day using the simple recommended technique. If this is the case, we then know that the accident was a avoidable given the training and knowledge. It was not Unavoidable.
Yanrair.
Were there things going on here that should not have happened - yes
Are there things that can be improved - yes
Was it avoidable? Looks like it was.
Remember, there is a reason why we have pilots. And two of them. And one of those reasons, perhaps the most important one, is for when the on board systems don't behave as designed. Good example. BA 747 with four engines failed over Indonesia for over 20 minutes. Now guys, that was not in the manual. Everyone lived.
Bye for now - think this is a great forum and I respect every contribution.
Yanrair.
Were there things going on here that should not have happened - yes
Are there things that can be improved - yes
Was it avoidable? Looks like it was.
Remember, there is a reason why we have pilots. And two of them. And one of those reasons, perhaps the most important one, is for when the on board systems don't behave as designed. Good example. BA 747 with four engines failed over Indonesia for over 20 minutes. Now guys, that was not in the manual. Everyone lived.
Bye for now - think this is a great forum and I respect every contribution.

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Lion airs flight the day before , they say the switches where turned off ? I believe the stick shaker was on constantly for entire flight ? Is it possible to turn off trim motors so elevator / stab is not being affected by faulty pressure instruments but stick shaker and other systems are still affected ?
How to switch pressure sensor systems ?
If you switched pressure sensor systems would it fix MCAS and other systems ?

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Lion airs flight the day before , they say the switches where turned off ? I believe the stick shaker was on constantly for entire flight ?
Ordinarily the switch position ought be detailed in the maintenance documents. Presumably the maintenance entry ought have mentioned the STAB TRIM CUT OUT switches with guard open in cutoff?
This is pertinent because engineering or the next crew must have reset the STAB TRIM CUT OUT switches.

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is that what you meant?
Or was the third set of eyes the only one not saying: "it can't be runaway trim as that is continuous and this is repeated - so we won't do that checklist and switch off the Stab Trim"


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The FAA's directive orders airlines within three days to update flight manuals to include specific steps pilots should take to recover.
"They should disengage the autopilot and start controlling the aircraft's pitch using the control column and the "main electric trim", the FAA say. Pilots should also flip the aircraft's stabiliser trim switches to "cutout". Failing that, pilots should attempt to arrest downward pitch by physically holding the stabilizer trim wheel, the FAA adds"
"They should disengage the autopilot and start controlling the aircraft's pitch using the control column and the "main electric trim", the FAA say. Pilots should also flip the aircraft's stabiliser trim switches to "cutout". Failing that, pilots should attempt to arrest downward pitch by physically holding the stabilizer trim wheel, the FAA adds"
I think many pilots will deal with this issue alone fairly well, throw in a few other issues like speed mismatch etc or alt mismatch and all of a sudden the situation right after takeoff becomes very dire indeed and is going to require some serious focus

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Maybe, he did, sitting further back and with less immediate issues... however, its reported he went back into the cabin to get a 737 Manual and went back into cabin... therein maybe lies the truth of the matter.. a 3rd crew member with more time on his hands.


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Lion Crew
It would certainly be a positive thing if any of the previous Lion Air flight crew/
supernumary crew could post impressions from that flight.
After lots of criticism on his site they are probably highly unmotivated to do that
and I don't blame them
but horse's mouth stuff is better than a lot of guess work
supernumary crew could post impressions from that flight.
After lots of criticism on his site they are probably highly unmotivated to do that
and I don't blame them
but horse's mouth stuff is better than a lot of guess work

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EU, Canada to review Boeing software fixes themselves after Ethiopia Airlines crash

One of the many serious post-flight delinquencies by the previous flight's Captain was his failure to properly document the problems encountered on his flight together with a full account of the remedial actions taken. There was no mention of the stick-shaker activation, there was no mention of having to run the Runway Stabilizer NNC and no mention of having to set the STAB TRIM switches to CUTOUT. The Captain limited his AFML write-up of defects to 'IAS and ALT Disagree shown after take off' and 'feel diff press light illuminate'. That was it!
His write up in the company's A-SHOR electronic reporting system was simply,
Airspeed unreliable and ALT disagree shown after takeoff, STS also running to the wrong direction, suspected because of speed difference, identified that CAPT instrument was unreliable and handover control to FO. Continue NNC of Airspeed Unreliable and ALT disagree. Decide to continue flying to CGK at FL280, landed safely runway 25L.
It appears that they did what you would have expected them to do. There's circumstantial evidence that the accident flight crew briefed for the possibility of encountering Airspeed Unreliable and ALT DISAGREE problems again, reviewed the Flight With Unreliable Airspeed tables and prepared a plan for dealing with the problems if they encountered them.
So maybe time to get off the accident crews' backs, huh?

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https://www.marketwatch.com/story/ca...aga-2019-03-19
Captain Sullenberger
Captain Sullenberger

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That is an interesting point.
If the leaked log from the pre-crash LionAir flight is accurate, the captain noted "STS running reverse". It was a prosaic description, appearing to lack the detail and urgency that one would associate with a catastrophic nosedive only arrested due to the fortuitous circumstance of an off-duty 737 pilot sitting in the jump seat knowing the correct procedure.
If the leaked log from the pre-crash LionAir flight is accurate, the captain noted "STS running reverse". It was a prosaic description, appearing to lack the detail and urgency that one would associate with a catastrophic nosedive only arrested due to the fortuitous circumstance of an off-duty 737 pilot sitting in the jump seat knowing the correct procedure.
Prelim report says that an entry was made on an electronic reporting system, including: "Airspeed unreliable and ALT disagree shown after takeoff, STS also running to the wrong direction, suspected because of speed difference". This is different to the maint log report, which didn't mention STS at all - it's clear they didn't think STS was the real problem, merely another symptom of what they reported in the log.
STS also trims intermittently, is stopped by pilot trimming, and if speeds are unreliable it's probably very reasonable to assume that STS is affected if the a/c is trimming itself weirdly. Particularly in the absence of any knowledge of MCAS and with no AOA disagree displayed.

You only need know that you are getting uncommanded trim that is effecting controllability of the aircraft.
Is that the case in the aircraft in question here?
Or are there several ways of dealing with various possible causes of the un-wanted trimming?

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Lot of discussion on MCAS and associated issues, I'm not condoning Boeing's apparent quick fix but airlines and consumers have a degree of involvement too.
737 is by today's standards an old design, the NG was a comprehensive update but its still based on a 60's design.
If you look at the 757 which most of us thought would take over from the 737 it takes a greater payload further, higher and faster for a comparable or better fuel burn; Not seen much outside the States now but still heavily used by some major players for N. American routes.
Why choose an older design over newer, more efficient types? Conservatism and customer familiarity/confidence are my first thoughts, leading us to this moment.
737 is by today's standards an old design, the NG was a comprehensive update but its still based on a 60's design.
If you look at the 757 which most of us thought would take over from the 737 it takes a greater payload further, higher and faster for a comparable or better fuel burn; Not seen much outside the States now but still heavily used by some major players for N. American routes.
Why choose an older design over newer, more efficient types? Conservatism and customer familiarity/confidence are my first thoughts, leading us to this moment.

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I think it is a mistake to say that the tendency to pitch up with added thrust due to nacelle created lift is "inherently unstable." In hindsight, Boeing and its customers would have been better served by skipping MCAS, requiring some training in the pitch up tendency even if, God forbid, the flight characteristics required a new type rating. And it probably would not have actually required a new type rating anyway!
Obviously, these kinds of assistive devices require a proper hazard assessment to be performed, including adequate assumptions about human behaviour, especially in a high-workload environment, which is exactly where this system is most likely to be active, and an analysis of worst-case consequences of single failures. Arguably that could have been done better in the case of MCAS.
On the whole, I'm sure you will find that fly-by-wire airliners generally have a far better safety record than conventionally controlled ones. That is not to say that it is only due to the computer-controlled flight controls, but also because FBW types are newer and incorporate other advances in safe design and systems reliability. But it is also clear that computer-assisted flight controls do not generally make flying less safe, QF72 notwithstanding. Case in point: The A320neo has had no accidents and perhaps one incident (tailstrike), despite being on the market somewhat longer and having almost twice as many airframes in service as the 737MAX.
Bernd


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It would certainly be a positive thing if any of the previous Lion Air flight crew/
supernumary crew could post impressions from that flight.
After lots of criticism on his site they are probably highly unmotivated to do that
and I don't blame them
but horse's mouth stuff is better than a lot of guess work
supernumary crew could post impressions from that flight.
After lots of criticism on his site they are probably highly unmotivated to do that
and I don't blame them
but horse's mouth stuff is better than a lot of guess work

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This WSJ Article out today but I can't post the link yet, perhaps someone else can.
Inside U.S. Airlines' Decisions to Keep Flying the 737 MAX
Interesting quote from the article:No problems had shown up, says Neil Raaz, American’s director of flight safety. “We just didn’t see the indications that told us our airplanes were unsafe, and frankly, we still haven’t,” says Mr. Raaz, who is also a Boeing 737 captain and has U.S. Navy and National Transportation Safety Board training in accident investigations.
