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JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) – The US Federal Aviation Administration has issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive stating how to deal with erroneous data from a sensor that, according to investigators, was malfunctioning on a new aircraft Boeing who sank in the sea in Indonesia, killing 189 pbadengers on board.
Directive gives regulatory weight to Boeing safety bulletin sent to operators of Boeing 737 MAX 8 and MAX 9 aircraft based on findings of ongoing Indonesian Lion Air crash investigation October 29th. FAA guidelines are generally followed by other international aviation regulators.
The FAA has stated that erroneous data from the angle sensor of attack, preventing the aircraft from stalling and diving, could hinder flight crews from controlling the aircraft and leading to "An excessive dive plate, a significant loss of altitude and possibly impact with the terrain. "
The directive requires airlines to make specific changes to the flight manual procedures to address the problem. Boeing's newsletter indicated that it was directing flight crews to the guidelines in effect.
Indonesian investigators said on Wednesday that the sensor had been replaced on the Lion Air plane the day before its fatal flight, which could have compounded other problems with the plane.
The Boeing 737 MAX 8, 2 months old, crashed into the Java Sea 13 minutes after takeoff from Jakarta. This flight and its flight of 28 October between Bali and Jakarta had an irregular speed and altitude shortly after takeoff.
On Wednesday night, Lion Air had interrupted a flight when one of his planes had damaged the tip of a wing when he had struck a street lamp before taking off from Bengkulu. The airline criticized the airport's airport traffic control personnel who directed the aircraft from the apron to the taxiway.
The Indonesian National Committee for Transport Safety said earlier this week that the plane crashed with a faulty speedometer during its last four flights, based on an badysis of the aircraft's data logger. flight. President Soerjanto Tjahjono said that the speedometer and sensor problems are related.
Lion Air's first two attempts to solve the airspeed problem did not work and, for the penultimate flight of the aircraft, the "angle-of-attack" sensors were replaced, Tjahjono said. .
On this 28 October flight between Bali and Jakarta, the pilot's and co-pilot's sensors diverged by about 20 degrees. The plane suddenly plunged a few minutes after take-off, which the pilots were able to recover from. They decided to continue their flight to Jakarta at a lower altitude than normal.
During the fatal flight, the aircraft touched the water at very high speed after the flight crew was allowed to return to the airport several minutes after takeoff.
"The fact is that after the replacement of the AOA (sensor), the problem is not solved but it can even increase. Is it fatal? NTSC wants to explore that, "said Tjahjono.
Aviation safety experts said that pilots are trained to safely handle a plane if these critical sensors fail and backup systems are in place.
Audio signals and physical warnings can alert the pilot in the event of equipment malfunction or other hazards, said Todd Curtis, director of the Airsafe.com Foundation.
"They should have been fully engaged in what was happening in this badpit and, regardless of the type of warning, they would have been advised to pay attention to it," Curtis said.
Investigators are probably focused on the fact that the failure of a single sensor resulted in an erroneous order that did not take into account the information from a second sensor, said John Cox, CEO of Safety Operating Systems.
"We do not know what the crew knew and did not know yet," said Cox. "We will."
The Indonesian search and rescue agency has extended the search until Sunday. Parts of the body are still recovering and researchers continue to search for a badpit voice recorder.
The Indonesian Transportation Safety Committee said it agrees with Boeing on procedures that the aircraft manufacturer should broadcast globally on how flight crews can handle sensor problems.
The recommendations relating to the flight procedure to Boeing were based on the response of the crew to the problems on the Bali-Jakarta flight, said Nurcahyo Utomo investigator.
Lion Air is one of the youngest airlines in Indonesia, but has grown rapidly, serving dozens of domestic and international destinations.
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Economic journalist Cathy Bussewitz contributed to this report from New York.
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