Boeing Arranges a Stopover for Airlines on 737 MAX Systems After the Indonesian Accident – Sources

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Boeing Co (PROHIBIT) plans to hold a teleconference with airlines Tuesday morning to discuss the 737 MAX model systems that crashed in Indonesia last month, according to four sources close to the case.

A Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX sank in the Java Sea on October 29, killing 189 people on board, causing the first major accident involving the latest version of its narrow-body aircraft.

After the accident, the US Federal Aviation Administration warned the airlines that incorrect inputs from the anti-stall sensors could cause the jet to nose-down automatically even when the autopilot is off, which complicates the response. pilot control.

American Airlines Group Inc (AAL.OLast week, he said he was "unaware" of certain features of the Maneuvering Feature Enhancement System (MCAS) designed to prevent the 737 MAX from stalling.

Indonesian investigators said the system was not detailed in Lion Air's flight manual.

Bloomberg first reported on Boeing's plan to hold a phone call with the airlines on Tuesday. One of the sources close to the case told Reuters that the call could be postponed.

Last week, Boeing said it has provided two updates to operators around the world, highlighting existing procedures for dealing with MCAS-related situations. Boeing declined to comment further.

In a message to employees on Monday, Boeing chief executive Dennis Muilenburg said information that the manufacturer had concealed confidential MCAS information from airlines was "wrong" and that this feature was described in the manual. of operating the flight crew, according to aviation journalist Jon Ostrower.

In a memo Friday, a member of United Airlines (UAL.O), the union stated that the carrier's pilots were properly trained to deal with a malfunction of the MCAS system, even though the system was not mentioned in a course for people switching from older models to the new jet plane.

A preliminary report on the Lion Air accident will be released on November 28 and 29, according to Indonesian investigators who analyzed the jet flight data recorder.

However, the divers have not yet located the company's cockpit voice recorder, which would provide a better understanding of the pilot interactions that are important for a more complete picture of the circumstances of the accident.