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Boeing will rollout a software upgrade for 737 Max in 10 days

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Boeing is reportedly rolling out a software upgrade for its 737 Max in 10 days, Agence France-Presse reports, citing sources. The plane manufacturer tells CNBC the overall timeline has not changed. The report comes days after the FAA grounded all 737 Max flights, citing links between two fatal crashes. (www.cnbc.com) Mais...

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Daniel21486
Daniel Burke 5
Playing devil's advocate here, Airbus has had this installed on all of their aircraft for years and the system has led to two major crashes. However, it was pilot error on the side of not understanding the system, not the plane itself. Air France, in which the pilots knew of the automation and still managed to crash the plane from 35,000 ft. and Air New Zealand test flight off the coast of France. Granted the later incident was a bone headed maneuver from the pilots in the first place however, the results of that crash:

"The aircraft's computers received conflicting information from the three angle of attack sensors. The aircraft computer system’s programming logic had been designed to reject one sensor value if it deviated significantly from the other two sensor values. In this specific case, this programming logic led to the rejection of the correct value from the one operative angle of attack sensor, and to the acceptance of the two consistent, but wrong, values from the two inoperative angle of attack sensors. This resulted in the system's stall protection functions responding incorrectly to the stall, making the situation worse, instead of better. In addition, the pilots also failed to recover from an aerodynamic stall in a manual mode in which the stabilizer had to be set to an up position to trim the aircraft. But only the stick was applied forward but aircraft didn't trim itself because it was switched to full manual mode. Seconds later the plane crashed into the sea."

My point being that automation, whether its working as intended or not still poses a risk based on any number of factors. Pilots, maintenance, weather, etc.. We do not know if sensors on the plane, poor maintenance, uninformed pilots, etc.. caused the 737 max crashes or if it was software that caused the crashes. In both Boeing and airbus, however, the pilots have the option to turn off electronic control of the system. Is the 737-Max using two switches near the fuel cut off switches to disable the system itself. The Pilots have manual control of the plane, Always, if they want it.

The YEARS spent with the planes before they EVER get in the hands of airlines is crazy. To fully blame Boeing before conclusive evidence is laid out on either crash is not the answer. They have to release a "fix" which, for all we know may just disable to M.C.A.S completely, until the investigation is complete. Patience is the game now.
siriusloon
siriusloon 0
I'm sure the families of the victims and the airlines with expensive dead weight sitting on their ramps are all very patient. I wonder if you'd be calling for patience if your loved ones had died or if you had a major investment in an airline with a large static display at its hubs.
jrodriguezpr
Joel Rodriguez 4
Why did people have to die in order to "accelerate" this patch? Also amazing to see airlines standing by waiting for the FAA to ground the max. In reality they should had done it well before the FAA did. Money over safety. Then they all released statements saying how much they have safety in mind, "safety is our top priority" BS.
siriusloon
siriusloon 2
$$$. Like they said in the Watergate investigation, "follow the money". Airlines wanted a bigger, more fuel-efficient, and longer-range 737 and Boeing could only do that by putting bigger, heavier engines in a new position. Change something like that and the effects cascade throughout the entire aircraft. Boeing should have said "no, we'll design a new and better replacement", but it was easier and cheaper to "improve" the 737 and sell them to airlines that wanted easier and cheaper, too. It was all about the Benjamins and now Boeing and the FAA and multiple airlines are facing much higher costs as the lawsuits fly -- which the 737 MAX isn't.
gsuburban
Garth Clark 8
Seems as if they knew of the "glitch" all along and suddenly now have a fix.
corky1961usa
Corey Kopenski 1
The must be the previously mentioned April software upgrade that they are now going to roll out now?

[This poster has been suspended.]


COYOTEHUNTER
COYOTEHUNTER 3
Given the amount of money, and the level of competition for billions in sales...
How long has the MAX series been flying?
How many flight test hours did Boeing fly this computer (MCAS) program?

We now know:
"Pilots Complained for Months About Suspected Flaw" concerning MCAS operation.
My questions now are:
Why are they just now crashing?
What level of training did each of the crews have? Both the lost crews and the ones who had a malfunction and flew on.
Why isn't a stick shaker adequate warning of impending stall? If not, why not?
How many captains (pilots) do not know to maintain proper airspeed? If not, why not?
So many, many questions and so few rock solid answers...
VinniePrim
Vinnie Prim -1
I doubt Boeing Execs are mass murderers and killing their own company's reputation. The true is Boeing was fixing it after the Indonesian crash before the Government Shutdown, but thanks to our President, the real mass murderer, the 5 weeks delayed completing the fix as the FAA was closed, and it cost a lot of people their lives. FYI, as a 2017 there were 1200 Max 8 and Max 9 delivered and flying. There are so many more hundreds more flying now. Yes, the US pilots ran into the same problem but they immediately switched off the Auto Pilot and took manual control of the airplane and all went well thereafter. Thank God, our US pilots are trained or smarter than the pilots from Indonesia and Ethopia.
mbrews
mbrews 3
- " Rollout software upgrade for 737 Max in 10 DAYS " ???? That better be limited to : Roll out some software upgrade for Boeing / FAA TEST and EVALUATION. Certainly limit this to flights by Boeing test pilots only. Not for operating revenue flights with paying passengers with all these open questions. If the FAA people have any spine, they will mandate to revoke and re-start the type certification where it was apparently hurried over.
jetfuelburner
Mike Keller 1
It;s not just a software problem. The plane doesn't fly aerodynamically correct down to the stall...that should NOT be allowed to be certified. It's wrong in my opinion.
bbabis
bbabis 1
I believe it does stall correctly Mike. MCAS is just a system implemented to help you not get there.
siriusloon
siriusloon 1
How long did the faulty software take to get tested and certified in the first place? And now they can roll out software that they claim is fixed in just ten days?

Back in the early 90s, an American Airlines pilot who was converting to the MD-90 from the 727 told me that the difference between the two manufacturers was that "Boeing designs airplanes to keep you out of trouble", while "McDonnell Douglas designs theirs so you can get out of trouble after you get into it". Maybe the merger messed that up.
Greg77FA
Greg77FA 1
Who is to say patch will fix the problems? How do we know it has been thoroughly tested in such a short span? Boeing better be right, or the next crash will send the 737 MAx, and potentially Boeing, into bankruptcy.
COYOTEHUNTER
COYOTEHUNTER -1
After reading a lot of the speculation on this and other aviation news websites, I bet Boeing is double checking it's anti-hacker software.
I would hope they do not find any "tampering with the programing" in the MAX Series software.
That, would be unthinkable. But so was 9/11...
However, what if's and maybe's do not count here.
I patiently wait for Boeing, the NTSB and other agencies to figure it all out.
mbrews
mbrews 3
Useless red herring. Next we may hear theories about space aliens or reversal of earths magnetic poles. The FAA you await as your savior seems to be full of lawyers, politicians, and bobbing head yes men (yes people?), so far in this shameful tale.
siriusloon
siriusloon 1
They're far more likely to find in-house incompetence and/or arrogance than what your conspiracy theory suggests.
Cansojr
Cansojr -3
I certainly share your concerns Garth. Is this a fix or a patch? I am not a fan of Boeing but they happen to be one of those companies that are too big to fail. With all its suppliers the Boeing supply chain and secondary jobs must bring them with close to one million jobs are associated with this industrial leviathon.

[This poster has been suspended.]

Cansojr
Cansojr 5
No point in discussing anything with a know-it-all. You haven't got clue as to the amount of code that must be examined.

The fix is just around the corner like the battery problem in the 787. There is to much at stake for Boeing not to look at a patch. New aircraft usually have a few bugs in it.

I really don't give a rats rear what you call me. Drop the profanity for the sake of the other parrticipants.
ToddBaldwin3
ToddBaldwin3 3
Can we keep it civil?

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