ETHIOPIA CRASH: Is Something Wrong With Boeing 737MAX Aircraft Version?
The world woke up to a searing news of Ethiopian commercial aircraft Boeing 737-800 MAX, which crashed today with 157 people on board.
The airline carrying eight crew with 149 passengers of 33 nationalities crashed while traveling from Addis Ababa to Nairobi just six minutes after take-off from Ethiopia’s Bole International Airport.
The Boeing 737- 800MAX made by American multinational corporation, The Boeing Company, is a version of the company’s 737 series of narrow-body airliners famous for its advanced aerodynamics and fuel-efficient engines. It is the quickest selling in the history of the company since it hit the market in 2017.
Nonetheless, sadly, the Boeing 737-800MAX is the same aircraft version as the Indonesian Lion Air jet that crashed in October 2018, 13 minutes after take-off from Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board.
Also, the last major accident involving an Ethiopian Airlines passenger plane was a Boeing 737-800MAX that exploded after taking off from Lebanon in 2010, killing 83 passengers and seven crew.
Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia Prime Minister
The Boeing Company which has maintained a leading status and considered a touchstone for innovativeness in the aviation sector has cost humanity much as it has aided it.
The company also manufactured the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 604, Boeing 737-260, which caught fire on 15 September, 1988; in less than a year that it was purchased brand new. Ninety-eight (98) passengers and 6 crew members were on board when the engine overheated and lost thrust— 35 people died from the crash.
After the Indonesian last year, around November, CNBC reported that The Boeing Company was facing scrutiny by the Federal Aviation Administration, the US’ agency that regulates all aspects of civil aviation. But nothing of substance came out of that.
This is despite repeated uproars by droves of aviation unions and associations about the need to investigate the operating systems of the 737 MAX, alleging that the company is withholding certain information which pilots should know about, but the company has repeatedly denied it.
President of the Allied Pilots Association, which represents American Airlines pilots, Dennis Tajer, submitted a letter to Boeing, the FAA and the NTSB to that effect.
“We have recently been given details on a new automated stall prevention system that Boeing previously withheld information on. We were not aware of this automated system prior to the Lion Air crash. We now have that information and procedures have been directed to combat that system should it trigger during erroneous angle of attack data events,” said Captain Dennis Tajer.
Similarly, “On November 5, CNN published an update on the crash investigation from Capt. Nurcahyo Utomo of Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) noting that the flight data recorder review concluded that the aircraft airspeed indicator was malfunctioning on four consecutive flights prior to the crash.
That under normal circumstances, the pilots should have recognized the malfunction when it occurred on Indonesia flight JT610, according to aviationtoday.com.
Read Also:TRAGIC! No Survivors On Ethiopia Airline Crash
After the latest Ethiopia crash this morning, people across the world have started reacting to the lackadaisicality of The Boeing Company and have started signing petition for the 737 MAX version to be taken down pending the time its credibility is verified.
The Boeing Company must as a matter of urgency review its safety culture by providing users of its long line of aircrafts with needed operational details. Any such details needed by pilots for their safety and that of their passenger becomes a non-negotiable obligation on any manufacturer even when life is not involved.
The company must also yield to calls that all Boeing 737 Max Aircraft in the world be grounded.
The United States Federal Aviation Administration and other international institutions such as the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), must recognize the enormity of the risk the 737 MAX aircraft pose to humanity and wade into the matter to save humanity.
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