Boeing failed to share key information with regulators about flight control software aboard the 737 Max years before the software was implicated in two crashes that killed 346 people, according to a government watchdog report released on Wednesday.
The report, from the Transportation Department’s inspector general, found that Boeing had played down the software, known as MCAS, during the plane’s certification process, presenting it to Federal Aviation Administration officials as operating only under limited conditions.
The grounding of the jet after the second crash, in March last year, has cost Boeing billions of dollars, including compensation paid to victims and airlines. It also led to the ouster of the company’s chief executive, set off government inquiries, and raised questions about the rushed effort to build and approve the Max.
The report on Wednesday said the MCAS system “was not an area of emphasis in F.A.A.’s certification efforts and therefore did not receive a more detailed review or discussion between F.A.A. engineers and Boeing.” The crashes were caused in part by the software, which automatically pushed the nose of the planes down.
During the certification process, Boeing also significantly updated MCAS, yet failed to provide the agency with documents detailing the changes, leaving agency officials in charge of pilot training in the dark, according to the report. Internal Boeing meeting minutes also show that the company decided to portray MCAS as a modification to an existing system in part because it could affect the certification process.
The F.A.A. would not perform a detailed analysis of the system until January 2019, months after the first crash of a 737 Max, in Indonesia. That February, the agency and Boeing agreed to a plan to update the software. A month later, a second Max jet crashed in Ethiopia.
In a statement, Boeing welcomed the findings of the report and said it was committed to safety and transparency.
“We have dedicated all resources necessary to ensure that the improvements to the 737 Max are comprehensive and thoroughly tested,” Boeing said. “We have also taken a number of actions to further improve the safety culture of our company.”
The watchdog report was publicly released within hours of the completion of a series of test flights of the updated Max, which the F.A.A. described in a statement as an “important milestone” in returning the plane to service.
The agency is still reviewing data collected during the flights, which started on Monday, to determine if the plane is safe. But even if its pilots and engineers are satisfied with the updates Boeing made, several key steps remain before the plane can return to the skies. They included determining what, if any, pilot training is needed; publishing a final report; rescinding a grounding order; and preparing the planes for flight again.
"Max" - Google News
July 02, 2020 at 09:07AM
https://ift.tt/31zZDDK
U.S. Watchdog’s Report Faults Boeing’s Disclosures on 737 Max Software - The New York Times
"Max" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2YlVjXi
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "U.S. Watchdog’s Report Faults Boeing’s Disclosures on 737 Max Software - The New York Times"
Post a Comment