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(Bloomberg) – Boeing Co. is preparing to send a safety warning to operators of its new 737 Max in response to the investigation into the deadly crash that occurred off the Indonesian coast last week, making 189 dead, said a person close to the record. .
Boeing's bulletin will warn airlines that erroneous readings of a flight watch system can cause planes to crash suddenly, said the person, who requested anonymity, discussing the details of the builder's plans. Boeing will warn pilots to follow an existing procedure to deal with the problem, said the person.
The warning is based on preliminary findings of the crash of a Lion Air airliner, the person said. In certain circumstances, for example when pilots fly manually, Max jets will automatically try to lower the nose if they detect that an aerodynamic stall is possible, added the person.
One of the critical ways that an airplane determines whether a stall is imminent is a measure known as the angle of attack, which is to calculate the angle at which the wind passes over the wings.
On October 29, after taking off, the Lion Air 737 Max 8 plunged into the Java Sea. He nose-crossed so suddenly that he may have reached a speed of 100 km / h before jumping into the water. The pilots radioed a request to return to Jakarta to land, but never turned back to the airport, according to the Indonesian National Committee on Transportation Safety and Flight Path Data. The committee stated that this was an indication of abnormal speed.
The Indonesian Ministry of Transport has scheduled an information meeting at 3 pm Wednesday in Jakarta to share updated information on the accident of Lion Air.
It was not immediately clear whether the question of speed was related to the angle of attack issue. A Boeing spokesman, based in Chicago, could not be contacted immediately for comment.
In a statement issued on November 5, the Indonesian Committee on Transportation Safety called on the US National Transportation and Safety Board and Boeing "to take the necessary steps to prevent similar incidents, including the Boeing 737 Max, which has 200 aircraft. in the world. "The committee, tasked with finding the cause of the accident, must hold an information session at 4 pm. in Jakarta.
Although additional details on the bulletin are not yet known, this warning is the first concrete action from the accident investigation. Boeing has an existing procedure that allows pilots to continue flying if the attack angle measures become erroneous.
The Chicago-based plan builder has delivered 219 Max, the newest and most advanced of the 737s, since the new models debuted last year with a subsidiary of Lion Air. Boeing has more than 4,500 orders for airliners, which include larger engines, a more aerodynamic wing and an improved cockpit with larger glass screens. The single aisle family is Boeing's biggest source of profit.
Aircraft and engine manufacturers regularly send operators newsletters outlining the security measures and maintenance measures they must take, most of them relatively routine. But the urgency of a fatal accident can trigger an avalanche of opinion of this type.
After breaking a Southwest Airlines Co. aircraft engine earlier this year over Pennsylvania, killing a passenger, CFM International Inc. issued several newsletters for CFM56 operators 7B.
In addition, aviation regulators, such as the US Federal Aviation Administration and the European Aviation Safety Agency, often follow such measures by requiring carriers to follow bulletins.
Airlines wait
Lion Air director Edward Sirait said the carrier had not received any Boeing bulletins yet.
"We always focus on treating the families of the victims, including the return of their remains to their homes," Sirait said by phone. "We will leave the investigation to KNKT on the accident," he said, referring to the Indonesian Committee on Transportation Safety.
Indonesian airlines Garuda said they did not receive a Boeing bulletin either.
"We will tighten our controls and our inspections and wait for the final report on the investigation," said in a text message the Chairman of the Board of Garuda Indonesia, Gusti Ngurah Askhara Danadiputra. "So far, there has been no disruption in the operation of our Max Jet."
The country's rescue agency, which searches the sea for remains of its victims, announced Wednesday that it would extend the three-day search.
Past accidents
The pilots raise and lower the nose of the Boeing airliners by pushing and pulling a yoke into the cockpit, which controls the panels at the tail, called elevators. In addition, a system known as elevator compensation can be modified to allow a rapid nose-up or nose-down movement.
The angle of attack readings are introduced into a computer which in some cases will attempt to push the nose using the elevator compensation system. At the beginning of the jet era, the lift compensation system was linked to several accidents. If the pilots are not careful, they can cause severe dive compensation settings that make it impossible to upgrade an aircraft.
Such a problem occurred in 2016 at the airport of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, when a FlyDubai 737-800 nosed and crashed against the runway, according to a provisional report of the Russian investigators. This case did not involve the angle of attack system. One of the pilots had cut the aircraft to lower the nose while trying to get on after stopping a landing, the paper said. The 62 people on board died.
(Updates with the relief agency extending the search to the 18th paragraph.)
– With the help of Bret Okeson, Fathiya Dahrul and Tassia Sipahutar.
To contact the reporters on this story: Alan Levin in Washington at [email protected], Julie Johnsson in Chicago at [email protected], Harry Suhartono in Jakarta at [email protected]
To contact the editors in charge of this story: Brendan Case at [email protected], Bruce Grant at [email protected], John Harney
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