Story of the Boeing 737 Max
- csoudeep
- Nov 28, 2021
- 5 min read
“ The comeback is always stronger than the setback”
In modern day aviation this is very much applicable to the come back of Boeing 737 MAX . Now for the non Aviators this topic might be an alien topic ; So, lets know the facts about Boeing 737 and find out its potential in this huge Aviation industry.
The 737 MAX had its first flight on January 29, 2016 , It was built to compete with A-320 neo and gained FAA certification on March 8, 2017. This is considered to the company’s best selling aircraft , and it comes in four variants Boeing 737 MAX-7 , MAX -8,MAX-9 and MAX-10 . The Aircraft is considered to one of the most advanced system Aircraft with increased thrust and Advanced Avionics . The 737 MAX suffered a recurring failure in the Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation Systems (MCAS) causing two fatal accidents, Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, in which 346 people died. The Federal Aviation Administration ordered to ground the Boeing 737 Max Aircraft worldwide on March 2019 . A lots of modification Were made and on November 2020 FAA ordered the ungrounding of the B-737 Max Aircraft . Now lets analyse the journey of 737 max ungrounding and the details of the Aircraft in brief .
Accident and Investigation
The Discovery of Boeing 737 Max was to compete with A-320 neo and this Max was grounded on march 2019. On October 29 2018, Lion Air Flight 610 took off from Jakarta. It quickly experienced problems in maintaining altitude, entered into an uncontrollable dive and crashed into the Java Sea about 13 minutes after take off. Then on March 10 2019, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 from Nairobi suffered similar problems, crashing into the desert around six minutes after leaving the runway. It was estimated that 346 people died of the accident. After these two accidents FAA ordered to put a ban on the B-737max . This duration of 20 months of grounding an aircraft is first time for an American airline.
Recommendations in the preliminary report focus on the issues with the flight control system that caused the nose of the plane to dip down . Multiple organizations conducted investigations into the safety of the Boeing 737 Max 8, including the U.S. Department of Transportation Special Committee, the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of the Inspector General, and the Joint Authorities Technical Review. The civil aviation authorities of Canada, China, the European Union, Indonesia, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates participated in the Joint Authorities Technical Review, which assessed the certification process for the Boeing 737 Max. The FAA considered the reports from the other reviews and investigations, as well as the NTSB’s recommendations, in its return to service review of Boeing’s safety adjustments. The FAA required that Boeing update MCAS to address the issues details in its report and that pilots be trained on operating MCAS.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) conducted its own return to service review for the Boeing 737 Max. The EASA’s report determined that the changes Boeing had made to the 737 Max had made the plane safe but also specified changes that, although not related to issues immediately threatening the safety of passengers, Boeing would have to make before the plane would be allowed to service the EU. After lots of verification from FAA it finally ordered it make the requisite chenges and issued airworthiness directives so that B-737 max can return to service .
Boeing on the accident
After FAA’s approval to resume flights on 18th November 2020 Boeing issued the changes that it has made on B-737 max . The main issue was regarding MCAS software and as per reports. MCAS, or Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System, provides consistent airplane handling characteristics in a very specific set of unusual flight conditions. MCAS now contains multiple enhanced protections:
· Measurements from two Angle of Attack (AOA) sensors will be compared.
· Each sensor will submit its own data to the airplane’s flight control computer.
· MCAS will only be activated if both sensors agree.
· MCAS will only be activated once.
· MCAS will never override the pilot’s ability to control the airplane using the control column alone.
Apart from MCAS many more initiatives and improvements were taken by Boeing . During the review and testing process, a few issues were discovered that did not directly relate to the Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) or the accidents. These items will be addressed on every airplane before it returns to service.
· Developed software updates to address theoretical horizontal stabilizer issue.
· Determined solution to modify some wiring to meet regulators’ requirements.
· Checking stored airplanes for Foreign Object Debris (FOD).
· Updated software to address remote possibility of autopilot disengagement .
These are the few technical changes made by Boeing as per regulatory authorities. Additional training are being provided to the pilots from across the globe to meet the certain requirements and made the pilots familiar to the changes made in the simulation . Special maintenance training are provided to the aircraft mechanics so that they may issue proper airworthiness certificate.
The financial aspect of Boeing 737 max is one of the issue that looms for the company. The company has 370 of the 737 Max jets ready to be delivered, even though those deliveries resumed late last year. It had 450 of those planes on hand when the FAA approved a resumption of passenger flights on 2020, and it expected to deliver half of them by the end of 2021. But now Boeing is unlikely to hit that target, and its new goal is to deliver "most" of the planes by the end of 2022. While the company as gotten orders for 679 Max jets since the grounding ended, that hasn't made up for the more than 1,000 orders for the plane cancelled since the grounding. The Boeing 737 MAX groundings have had a deep financial effect on the aviation industry and a significant effect on the national economy of the United States. No airline took delivery of the MAX during the groundings. Boeing slowed MAX production to 42 aircraft per month until in January 2020, when they halted until the airplane is reapproved by regulators. Boeing has suffered directly through increased costs, loss of sales and revenue, loss of reputation, victims litigation, client compensation, decreased credit rating and lowered stock value. In January 2020, the company estimated a loss of $18.4 billion for 2019, and it reported 183 cancelled MAX orders for the year. The company could still had made a comeback but the pandemic was a major challenge that it faced . Many airlines were bankrupt and the the demand for passenger travels decreased a considerable amount.
Boeing is a prestigious company and it also one of the largest aviation companies in the world . It will make a comeback as it has always done and as I said previously the words “comeback is stronger” . the Boeing 737 max is one of the most popular aircrafts I the world with dashing features hope it will rule the skies again by mid 2022 . For more updates like this follow me on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/soudeep-chatterjee-1a9003185/
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