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When the American aircraft manufacturer Boeing launched its 737 Max on the market, the model quickly became a success. The plane consumes less fuel, has more seats on the same surface, and has a greater range than the previous 737. The newcomer was searched, and airlines lined up to buy the plane: At launch, the Boeing 737 Max had about 5,000 orders worldwide.
But the success story came to an abrupt end.
On October 29, 2018, 189 people died when a Lion Air-owned Boeing 737 Max sank into the sea on a journey from Jakarta to the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Another 157 people lost their lives in the second accident, which occurred on March 10, 2019 on one of the Ethiopian Airlines flights, with the same aircraft model, from Addis Ababa to Nairobi. A total of 346 people lost their lives in the accidents, which occurred at intervals of just five months. In March 2019, he was banned from flying the plane for 20 months.
The reasons that accidents could occur are said to be various, as is often the case when it comes to aviation accidents, and the Boeing CEO has stated that it occurred due to a series of events.
The accidents have been traced back to the system. on how the model measured the angle of the plane in the air: on the 737 Max there was only one such meter. When that meter showed errors, an automatic system was put into operation that would prevent the plane from rising too fast, with the result that the nose of the plane pointed to the ground. A subsequent analysis revealed several deficiencies in the aircraft’s software. Furthermore, the pilots should not have received training in a simulator, because the differences from the previous model were considered to be very small.
According to the CEO of Boeing, the accidents with the Max plane were due to a series of events.
Photo: Elaine Thompson / AP
The costs to Boeing after the fatal accidents in the spring were estimated to be around SEK 200 billion, and it has been in the company’s great interest to get traffic started as soon as possible. During the time the plan has been in place, Boeing has conducted hundreds of test flights and changed the software that controls the autopilot.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lifted the flight ban on November 18 this year, and Patrik Ky, CEO of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), recently announced that the Boeing 737 Max 8 now it reaches a security level high enough to be approved.
Aviation Analyst Jan Ohlsson believes there is no question that it is safe to fly with the newly certified and updated Boeing model.
– As much as this aircraft has been tested now, no aircraft has been tested before, the entire future of Boeing is at stake, and one cannot afford to fail. Plus, it’s embarrassing for the US aeronautical authority, says Jan Ohlsson.
The Brazilian airline Gol Airlines carried out a passenger flight with the updated version of the plane on December 8, and according to The Guardian, the first commercial flight in the United States will be between Miami and New York on December 29 of this year. In Europe, the plane is expected to be able to fly again from mid-January 2021.
Aviation analyst Jan Ohlsson believes Boeing has a difficult time ahead, especially with the corona pandemic, which has hit the aviation industry hard.
Photo: Private
Despite the security of the plan meeting the requirements, Jan Ohlsson believes there may be some public opposition after what happened. Boeing will need to deliver flawless flights to regain confidence.
– One thing is required now and that is that nothing happens. It takes a long time to investigate an accident, and if there is an accident with the plane that has nothing to do with the previous failures, it will still be a disaster. It is not possible to prove the next day that it was not due to the previous software bug, it can take up to a year to investigate, says Jan Ohlsson.
On December 22, the crew of an Air Canada Boeing 737-8 Max sent an emergency signal shortly after the plane took off from Arizona. Says The Guardian. The plane was headed to Montreal but was forced to return to Arizona after the crew received indications of an engine failure. They decided to shut down the faulty signal engine and then could, as normal, land on the Arizona runway, the airline claims. There were three employees on board the plane.
“Modern aircraft are designed to operate with one engine and our crews are trained for such situations,” says Air Canada in a statement according to The Guardian.
Due to the predominant crown mode In the world, there are currently no peak days for air traffic. Since March this year, airline numbers have plummeted, and for companies that have not filed for bankruptcy, the money bleeds every month. The aviation trend doesn’t appear to be reversing anytime soon, and the future of Boeing’s relaunched plan looks anything but bright.
– At first, when the plane stopped, it was a disaster, because the airlines really needed them. Today, no company needs the plan. Since the flight ban, Boeing has built around 500 new planes, now they are grouped together like all other planes. This puts great financial pressure on Boeing, he says.
The Irish low-cost airline Ryanair recently ordered 210 Boeing aircraft for SEK 186 billion, to be delivered over the period 2021-2024. The travel companies TUI and Icelandair are some of the companies that already have the model in their aircraft fleet before the accidents, and that during the year they can put them back into operation.
Read more:
Torbjörn Petersson: Automation was too good – pilots couldn’t practice
Ryanair buys Boeing 737 Max for billions
What happens in a cabin when all else fails?
