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Boeing said it would recommend simulator training for all pilots before the MAX is operational again.
Washington / Chicago:
Two top Boeing Co executives who oversaw the development of the 737 MAX defended the company’s decisions on a key cabin system that was later linked to two fatal accidents, according to testimony to congressional investigators seen by Reuters.
Michael Teal, then 737 MAX chief product engineer, and Keith Leverkuhn, who was vice president and general manager of the 737 MAX program, were questioned separately by investigators from the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Infrastructure and Transportation. may.
“I do not consider the development of the aircraft to be a failure,” Leverkuhn told the House panel investigators who will release a final report next week on their investigation into the development of the aircraft, on the ground since March 2019 after two accidents. killed 346 people.
Leverkuhn defended the decision to link a new safety system in the MAX, called MCAS, to a single sensor that has been implicated in both fatal accidents. Boeing has since agreed to use data from two separate sensors when the plane is back in service, which could happen as early as this year.
“I think based on our understanding and our assumptions about the actions of the flight crew, it was not a mistake,” Leverkuhn said.
Later in his testimony, Leverkuhn added: “Clearly, what was wrong were our assumptions regarding human-machine interaction. Because the process was based on the industry standard of pilot reaction to a particular failure. AND what became clear after the accidents was that the assumption was wrong. “
Congressional investigators also challenged testimony that Boeing had never conducted an internal financial analysis to determine the impact of whether the Federal Aviation Administration would require more expensive simulator training.
Teal said that if the design of the 737 MAX justified the simulator training, Boeing would have created it, though he acknowledged that customers may have been disappointed.
“The airlines would have been pleased with that, of course they hadn’t,” he said, noting that Boeing had signaled early on that simulator training would not be necessary.
Last year, Boeing confirmed that it had agreed to pay Southwest Airlines Co a $ 1 million refund for MAX if the training was required.
In January, Boeing changed course and said it would recommend simulator training for all pilots before the MAX is operational again.
Teal, now chief engineer for the 777X project, said the aircraft maker has revised some assumptions from pilots after the 737 MAX crashes. “It is learning that we are now bringing to the new plane,” he said.
Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Wall Street Journal, which previously reported on the transcripts, said Leverkuhn withdrew earlier this year as he had long planned, citing a Boeing spokesperson.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
