The pilots were not informed of the risks associated with the new functionality of the Boeing 737 Max – Quartz

Indonesian investigators focused on the role of a new feature of the Boeing 737 Max 8 while they were trying to determine what had led to the crash of Lion Air's JT610 flight, which had cost 189 lives. people during his fall in the Java Sea in October. 29

On Tuesday, November 13, the Wall Street Journal (Paywall) announced that accident investigators, sources at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), US carrier pilots and airline regulators have said the new feature does not allow for the use of new aircraft. had not been sufficiently published, and the pilots were not trained until variant 737 gradually became a fleet.

According to the Journal, the automated stall prevention system for the Max 8 and Max 9 models is supposed to help pilots avoid accidentally raising their noses too high – but under rare conditions, this feature can actually tip the nose down . so suddenly that the crews can not redirect the boat.

In the case of the Lion Air flight, the Indonesian regulators first focused on a speedometer and the data provided by a faulty sensor, providing information on "the angle of attack". From the nose of the plane. Now, they are also studying how the pilots have been trained to handle the aircraft's reactions to this data. The regulators said that the situation the Lion Air crew was in last month was not in the aircraft's flight manual, Reuters reported.

Boeing said in a statement today to be confident for the safety of the 737 Max and "takes all necessary steps to fully understand all aspects" of the Lion Air accident, in close coordination with the investigators and regulators. "Safety remains our top priority and is a core value for everyone at Boeing," he said.

A week ago, the aerospace company released a global safety bulletin urging operators to follow procedures to handle erroneous angle sensor data. On the same day, the FAA ordered the fleets to update their training manuals with information on how to adapt to the functionality of the Max 8 and 9 aircraft. In the United States, pilots stated that the information contained in these guidelines had led them to realize (paywall) that they had not been informed and trained in functionality.

"This is information we do not know about in training, or in any other manual or material," said Dennis Tajer, spokesperson for the American Airlines Pilots' Union, to Reuters.

Boeing has received nearly 4,800 Max orders worldwide from short-haul carriers. The model offers higher fuel consumption and passenger capacity than the older 737s, which could contribute to the airline's profitability.

The first 737 Max 8 was delivered last May to Malindo Air, a subsidiary of Lion Air Group, and put into service the same month, while the Max 9 was delivered for the first time earlier this year. More than 200 were delivered to various carriers in September.