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Boeing has been investigated in recent months for failing to disclose the Maneuverability Enhancement System (MCAS) on its Boeing 737 Max airliners.
In fact, the existence of MCAS was only revealed after the crash of the Lion Air Flight JT610 flight in October.
In a database run by NASA, the Boeing 737 Max pilots expressed outrage at not having been alerted to the presence of the system on board the aircraft they were flying. The fury around MCAS broke out again in March after Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302 crashed.
Read more: Boeing's CEO announces that he will participate in the first 737 Max flights when the controversial aircraft will be put back into service.
On Monday, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg explained why the company had installed MCAS on the 737 Max without disclosing the existence of the system to the pilots, while challenging the characterization of the MCAS by the media as being an anti-aircraft system. stall.
"When you look at the original design of the MCAS system, I think in some cases, in the media, it has been reported or described as an anti-stall system, which is not the case." Muilenburg told reporters shortly after Boeing's annual shareholders meeting. "It is a system designed to provide the driver with driving qualities that meet his preferences."
Muilenburg added: "We want the aircraft to behave in the air in the same way as the previous generation of 737. It's the feeling that the pilot prefers for the plane. MCAS is designed to offer this type of maneuvering qualities at a high angle of attack. "
"It's a design that makes sense. It's something that's designed to be part of the way planes fly. So that's part of the certification process, "said Boeing's CEO. "It's not something that's a separate procedure or something that requires separate training."
"This is an integral part of the flying qualities of the plane, so when you train in the plane, you are trained on MCAS," he added. "This is not a separate system on which to train."
The need for MCAS stems directly from a problem arising from the design of the 737 Max.
To equip the larger and more fuel-efficient engines of the Max, Boeing had to position the engine further and further forward. This change disrupted the center of gravity of the aircraft and caused the Max to lean up during the flight, increasing the risk of stalling. The MCAS is designed to automatically counter this tendency and steer the nose of the aircraft downward when the aircraft 's angle of attack sensor (AOA) triggers a warning.
Boeing confirmed earlier this month that false readings by one of the 737 Max's AOA sensors had triggered the MCAS on Lion Air and Ethiopian jet aircraft. As a result, the MCAS improperly sank the nose of the aircraft during takeoff.
Boeing is working on a suite of software fixes proposed for MCAS.
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