TO CLOSE

Former airliner Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, who safely disembarked a crippled jetliner on the Hudson River ten years ago, told a House aviation panel that the two Boeing 737 Max air disasters "should never have happened". (June 19)
AP

In the final, at poignant seconds of Ethiopian Airlines flight 302, the pilots tried desperately to keep their Boeing 737 Max aloft.

Nothing worked. Do not pull on the yoke to try to lift your nose. Not attempting to adjust the trim, the preliminary report on the crash would show. Worse, several alarms, clicks and other sound warnings distracted the pair. The plane crashed in March in front of Addis Ababa, killing 157 people.

The accident exposed Boeing's weaknesses in the design of an automated flight system that canceled the actions of the flight crew. But it also posed questions about the pilots' experience – whether mistakes had been made in the cockpit and whether foreign airlines required pilots to be adequately trained. These issues will be the focus of concern on Monday as a committee of this body, which sets international standards for air transport and is supported by the United Nations, needs to revisit the requirements of the pilots.

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Rescuers are working at the scene of a plane crash at Ethiopian Airlines near Bishoftu, south of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on March 11, 2019. A spokesman said that 39; Ethiopian Airlines had immobilized all its Boeing 737 Max 8 as a safety measure, following the crash of an aircraft. of his planes on March 10 in which 157 people were killed. (Photo: Mulugeta Ayene, AP)

In the United States, 1,500 hours. Overseas, 240 hours

In the United States, co-drivers must have at least 1,500 flying hours, such as pilots, before they can sit right on an airliner. Internationally, it is only 240 hours and may include a combination of time in simulators.

While the preliminary record of the accident in Ethiopia indicated that the 29-year-old pilot totaled 8,122 flying hours, the first 25-year-old officer had only 361 hours in total, after receiving his commercial carrier license three months earlier.

The accident followed about five months earlier, involving another 737 Max driven by Lion Air. This plane plunged into the Java Sea, killing 189 people. In both collisions, probes revealed that an automated system repeatedly pointed the nose of the plane while the pilots were trying to get up. Boeing had installed the system to compensate for larger engines positioned further forward on the wing.

& # 39; It will be a crash for sure & # 39 ;: Ethiopian pilot pleads for training after the accident of Lion Air Boeing 737 Max

After the accident in Lion Air, Boeing had insisted that the 737 Max was safe because pilots could follow a procedure to shut down the system, called Manicure Strengthening System (MCAS). ). Boeing chief executive, Dennis Muilenburg, hinted about six weeks after the crash in Ethiopia that pilots were not following "completely" procedures.

The accident report illuminates what he may have meant. In particular, the report states that pilots never turn off the power of the aircraft after take-off, which would have made manual control of the horizontal stabilizer more difficult.

Could a more experienced or better trained crew have made a difference?

Lately, talking about blaming the drivers is largely off. Chesley Sullenberger, the retired pilot of US Airways who became a national hero in 2009 after rescuing all his passengers by abandoning his disabled jetliner in the Hudson River, testified before a panel of the House last month that 39 he doubted that he could have saved the Ethiopian plane given to MCAS and all the distractions in the cockpit during the emergency.

Nevertheless, House Committee leaders on transportation and infrastructure and its subcommittee on aviation, two Republicans and two Democrats, have asked the Inspector General of the Department of Transport for transportation and infrastructure. review pilot training standards for commercial pilots operating outside the United States, including those flying the Boeing 737. Max.

Boeing's 737 MAX in flight. (Photo: Boeing)

"If these pilots, difficult while they were trying to save their passengers, were not receiving adequate training, that's another factor that requires action." It's true, no matter where they fly or where they were trained, "wrote one of them, representing Sam Graves, R-Mo., in a comment for Fox Business last month.

On Monday, a committee of the International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations unit known as ICAO, must review the requirements for pilots' flight hours. The meeting was scheduled ahead of the 737 Max accidents and will not be limited to the needs of professional pilots, said Miguel Marin, chief of the operational safety section of the ICAO Air Navigation Bureau.

But instead of moving closer to the American standard, ICAO seems to be moving towards another approach. He is more concerned with pilot skills and demonstrated skills than flying hours alone. Perhaps he is ready to wonder if a minimum hour is still required. A recommendation to reduce flying hours, if any, would reflect a long-standing difference in philosophy.

"The United States went in one way – the rest of the world went the other way," said Michael Wiggins, a professor at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

In the United States, it's hard to ban the 1,500-hour rule for co-drivers.

"Industry experts dispute the effectiveness of the 1,500-hour rule, but this has certainly reduced the number of captains of regional airlines doing their entire 250-hour course," said Louis Smith. President of FAPA.aero, a pilot employment consulting service. .

On autopilot: "Pilots lose their basic skills in flight," fear some after the Boeing 737 Max crash

"Experience equal security"

Larry Rooney, president of the Coalition of Pilots of Airline Pilots Associations, said that "the experience was worth the security" and that everyone was asleep: "If you have to fly in winter, you have to see it several times. "

Flight hours have become a major problem for suburban airlines in the United States. The shortage of pilots has been aggravated since the minimum number of flying hours required for co-pilots was increased in 2013 from 250 hours. The change results from a crash investigation of a 2009 Colgan Air commuter plane near Buffalo, New York State.

The Regional Airline Association, which represents the suburban carriers, says the stricter flight hours standards have raised the usual cost of co-pilot to $ 200,000. This makes it difficult to afford a career with starting salaries for co-drivers of $ 61,602 on average.

Some pilots say that flight safety goes well beyond a considerable number of flying hours.

The former airline pilot and aviation expert, John Cox, said he supported the 1,500 hour rule but felt that there should be compensations reflecting higher levels of training.

The US Air Force, he said, prepares young officers for combatants with as little as 300 flying hours. On the other hand, private pilots eager to meet the requirements of 1,500 hours can gain hours by flying planes towing streamers in good weather – a level of stress and a high level of experience comparable to that of the army.

"What matters is not the amount of hours, but the quality of training," Cox said.

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