In simulations of a suspected problem in the tragic crash of the Lion Airplane in Indonesia, pilots had just seconds to disengage a faulty system.
During the flight simulations in Boeing’s plant in Renton Wash and recreating the problems with the doomed Lion Air plane, pilots discovered that they had less than 40 seconds to override an automated system on Boeing’s new jets and avert disaster.
The investigations are continuing, with focus on the automated system, known as MCAS.
Further tests will try to uncover what went wrong in the Lion Air disaster in October and the Ethiopian Airlines crash of the same Boeing model this month.
As reported by The New York Times, experts tested a crisis situation similar to what investigators suspect as the reason for the doomed Lion Air crash. In the tests, a single sensor failed, triggering software designed to help prevent a stall.
Once that happened, the pilots had just moments to disengage the system and avoid an unrecoverable nosedive of the Boeing 737 Max, according to two people involved in the testing in recent days.
The software, as originally designed and explained, left little room for error. Those involved in the testing hadn’t fully understood just how powerful the system was until they flew the plane on a 737 Max simulator, according to the two people.
Boeing is expected to propose a software update that would give pilots more control over the system. In doing so, they can potentially extend the 40-second window, giving them more time to avoid a crash, the report said.
Photo credit: NYTIMES–A 737 Max 8 at Boeing’s plant in Renton, Washington, on March 20, 2019.
