Boeing 737 Max crashes show 'deteriorating pilot skills' may favor Airbus



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Experts are tentatively blaming the two recent crashes of Boeing's 737 Max planes on the over-automation of Boeing's flight system, which prevented pilots from manually controlling the jets' force when their systems were incorrectly concluded when they were not.

You might think this would have had more pilots in the air. In the case of the 737 Max, you might be wrong, according to Buckingham Research Group analyst Richard Safran.

Airbus believes the autopilot system in its A320neo planes – the direct competitors to Boeing 's 737 Max – gave Airbus an advantage because it gives less control over the aircraft.

"Airbus told me the reason that their flight control system is taking over

"Airbus told me the reason that their flight control system is taking over," says Safran told customers. "The long-term impact of the Max may be that developing the world of A320neo and the authority given to them by the United States. This article is available at: http://www.businessinsider.com/en/index.asp

An Airbus A320neo.
Airbus

That is counterintuitive because in the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes – which killed 189 and 157 people, respectively – the autopilot system wrongly believed the planes were flying upward too steeply and forced the planes into dives. The pilots were unable to countermand the automated system, suggesting that greater control could have saved the planes.

"A difference between the BA and Airbus flight control system is that Airbus gives the autopilot more control over the airplanes.

"Airbus says the rules and regulations governing training and type rating for commercial pilots are strict

Business Insider asked Airbus if it was true that the company was engineering its planes because it was used by pilots with lower skill levels.

"Any aircraft may be flown in such a way that it can not be used in any other way, and therefore, it can not be avoided. told spokesperson Business Insider.

A Boeing 737 Max cockpit.
Boeing

"Pilot licenses are granted by the local aviation authorities and may be based on the following criteria in the United States of America and EASA in Europe. aircraft model or the manufacturer, "the company said.

Boeing did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

"Obviously, the lack of information and pilot training was a major player in those tragic accidents"

The idea that the airliners are being re-engineered to make up for the deteriorating skills of pilots might be disconcerting to ordinary travelers. We asked two experts that this was true.

They both agreed, with qualifications.

"Obviously, the lack of information and pilot training was a major player in those tragic accidents," Alan Diehl, a former NTSB investigator and FAA scientist, said.

But the lack of training was made by Boeing's autopilot system, and difficulty the pilots. In older Boeing models, pilots can break the system by grabbing the control column. In the 737 Max, that was not the case.

The Boeing 737 Max 8 airliner involved in the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302.
Wikimedia Commons / LLBG Spotter / CC BY-SA 2.0,

Diehl said:

"The two recent Max crashes revealed a series of engineering oversights that occurred in the face of the market." Probably the most significant one is the use of a single angle of attack feeding information to the all-too-powerful automated anti-stall system (the MCAS). Computers are 'dumb and dutiful' and erroneous information is provided to the MCAS, but the crew is trying to solve the problem. problem (s) producing their aircrafts 'nose-down pitching.'

"In many countries, the regulations allow the pilots to start their careers with many less than what is allowed in the US"

Todd Curtis, a former Boeing safety engineer and creator of the AirSafe.com web site, said, "It is true that many countries, the regulations allow them to start their careers in the United States. In general, more experience translates into a more capable pilot. "

"Is it true that Airbus is designing aircraft to deal with deteriorating skills? I can not say if that is the case," he said. "I can say that the design of aircraft by Boeing, Airbus, and other manufacturers has continued to evolve and share the effects of this approach. with the aircraft 20 or 30 years ago. "

While easier direct pilot intervention can have saved both the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines flights, the fact is that greater automation in flying.

"It is obvious that automation has overall become highly beneficial to the world, but unfortunately it has become a reality in the aviation industry," Diehl said.

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