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original title:BoeingThe published 737 MAX air crash report reveals serious problems in the US aviation regulation.
After 18 months of researching and interviewing more than 20 Boeing and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) employees, and analyzing nearly 600,000 pages of documents and records, the US House of Representatives Committee on Infrastructure and Transportation The US issued a 238-page document. Investigation report. In response to the two Boeing 737 MAX series aircraft crashes, the report pointed out directly that Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration were in serious trouble.
On September 16 local time, the US House of Representatives released an investigative report on two accidents involving Boeing 737 MAX series aircraft. The report indicated that the accident was caused by “a series of serious errors” committed by Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Boeing puts its own interests above public safety and is under the supervision of the Federal Aviation Administration. The system has serious problems.
In October 2018, Indonesia Lion Air flight JT610 crashed about 12 minutes after takeoff, killing all 189 people on board. Less than half a year later, in March 2019, Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302 crashed about 6 minutes after takeoff, killing all 157 people on board. It was the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft that caused these 346 innocent deaths. After two air crashes, the Boeing 737 MAX series aircraft were grounded globally.
Boeing hides design flaws, weak FAA oversight
According to the New York Times, after 18 months of investigating and interviewing more than 20 Boeing and FAA employees, and analyzing nearly 600,000 pages of document records, the US House of Representatives Committee on Infrastructure and Transportation The US issued a 238-page document. Investigation report.
The report noted that in the two air crashes of the Lion Air plane crash in Indonesia in October 2018 and the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash in March 2019, Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration had errors. The two air crashes “were not caused by a single mechanical failure, a technical error, or improper management,” but rather “the incorrect technical assumptions of Boeing engineers, the lack of transparency in Boeing’s management, and the serious lack of supervision of the Federal Aviation Administration “. “.
Investigators noted that Boeing knew the 737 MAX had design flaws, but deliberately withheld relevant information from airlines, pilots, and regulators, and affected the management and review of regulators through business relationships. As a regulatory agency, the FAA “severely lacks approval and oversight of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft” and urgently requires extensive reform. According to the report, “Boeing has flaws in the design and upgrade of MAX models, while the FAA is absent from Boeing’s oversight and certification of new models.”
The report also noted that after the accident, Boeing was still reluctant to admit its mistakes and that there was a “serious cultural problem.” During the investigation, some Boeing employees were under “undue pressure.” The report describes Boeing as a company that puts corporate interests above public safety, and says that Boeing deliberately ignores the problem, either because it feels the problem is irrelevant or because it will affect research and development progress. and he hopes to cut costs to power the 737 MAX as soon as possible. market.
The Chairman of the House Infrastructure and Transportation Committee and Democratic Congressman Pete de Fazio said: “These tragedies should not have happened” and “They could have been prevented. We will take legislative action to ensure these things never happen again.” . .
Republican committee members did not issue an independent report, but they also called for greater security. Sam Graves, the highest-ranking Republican on the committee, believes the changes are really necessary, but legislative action must be taken based on expert recommendations.
Boeing responds to learn lessons and is still pushing for a spin
According to Reuters, on September 16 Boeing responded in writing to this House of Representatives report. Boeing said in a statement: “As a company, we have learned many painful lessons from the accidents of Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 and from the mistakes we made.”
The statement said that since early 2019, Boeing has conducted extensive and comprehensive cooperation with the House investigation team, stating that “we have been working hard to strengthen our safety culture and rebuild trust with customers. , regulators and passengers “.
Additionally, Boeing stated that the revised 737 MAX design has undergone rigorous review by internal and regulatory agencies, including more than 375,000 engineering and test time and 1,300 test flights. The statement read: “Once the Federal Aviation Administration and other regulatory agencies determine that the 737 MAX can be safely returned to service, it will become one of the most rigorous aircraft in history. Boeing relies on its safety “and hopes to promote the 737 MAX. Turn around before the end of this year.
FAA says it will work with Congress to implement improvements
Regarding the issues identified in the House investigation report, the FAA said in a statement that the agency will cooperate with members of Congress to “implement the improvement measures mentioned in the report.” The agency also stated that it will “improve our organization, processes and concepts to comprehensively improve aviation security.” In the investigation report, lawmakers presented a series of reform proposals to restructure the FAA’s oversight of aviation ratings.
According to the US media CNBC, the House of Representatives report accused the FAA of failing to protect the safety of public travel, in part because the agency gave Boeing excessive self-certification rights.
The FAA’s response to the accident has also been severely criticized. The report indicated that in December last year, the FAA’s Deputy Director of Aviation SafetyAli· Bakhrami told the investigation team that he was unaware of the internal assessment carried out after the first accident. The assessment report noted that if the MCAS is not changed, there may be more than 15 air crashes. Furthermore, the report indicated that the FAA was also “very slow” in delivering materials.
Democrat Pete Defazio, chairman of the House Infrastructure and Transportation Committee, told reporters, “The FAA is actually more frustrating than Boeing. I’m not even sure we have all the mail records we want. They do. they claim to have them. Very old computer system. “
According to Reuters, the Senate Commerce Committee originally planned to vote on an FAA reform bill on September 16, but it was later postponed. The bill will give the FAA some new powers, establish a new whistleblower protection system, strengthen misconduct investigations and disciplinary management, and require a review of the professionalism of the FAA qualification certification.
Rick Larson, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Aviation, said: “We are working closely with Republicans and hope to reach an agreement on the FAA reform proposal as soon as possible.”
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Boeing employees expressed concern but were ignored
In March 2019, the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft was banned from flying around the world after two plane crashes occurred in less than half a year and 346 people died. 18 months have passed since then.
The occurrence of two air crashes exposed the design flaws of the Boeing 737 MAX, especially a key safety system called MCAS (Maneuvering Characteristics Improvement System). MCAS is also known as the Loss Prevention System. The original design is to ensure that the aircraft can automatically lower the nose when there is a risk of stalling. The US House of Representatives investigation report noted that internal Boeing employees had, in fact, raised concerns about MCAS before, but their views were either ignored or did not receive an adequate response.
For the past year and a half, Boeing has been updating and testing the MCAS system, hoping to pass the review as soon as possible to achieve a return to flight. However, the United States Federal Aviation Administration has requested that before the 737 MAX can be used again, MCAS must take new safety protection measures.
Global grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX for a year and a half has caused huge losses to Boeing. Coupled with this year’s new corona pneumonia epidemic, the global aviation industry has fallen into dire straits and Boeing is facing the biggest crisis in history. Not only that, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner has recently been found to have quality issues, which can lead to delays in the delivery of this model, which is certainly worse for Boeing.
Boeing said on Sept. 8 that the company’s horizontal tail 787 Dreamliner (787 Dreamliner) produced in Salt Lake City has quality issues, which can cause delays in the delivery of the 787 Dreamliner. Of the 982 787 Dreamliners delivered, approximately 893 were reportedly affected by this issue.
This problem is another blow for Boeing. Reuters noted that the aviation manufacturing giant originally hoped to use the 787 Dreamliner to offset the tight cash flow caused by the massive order cancellation for the 737 MAX.
Beijing News reporter Xie Lian
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