4 ms·

If you read between the lines, he's basically saying that they did not have complete design and certification criteria for this feature of their aircraft and th

If you read between the lines, he's basically saying that they did not have complete design and certification criteria for this feature of their aircraft and that that's ultimately at fault. In other words the MCAS met the design criteria established by the systems engineers, and the AoA sensor met the design criteria established by the systems engineers. And it passed all of the system-level testing established for the plane. It's just that the design criteria didn't include statements describing the AoA sensor data as being critical for the MCAS to function effectively. And as a result nobody analyzed the software design to determine whether a fault in the AoA sensor could cause the MCAS to perform in a state inconsistent with aerodynamics. And nobody who was working on the AoA readout was aware that the AoA sensor fault indicator would also indicate a problem with MCAS. What he's strongly implying is that this was a mistake on Boeing's part. However what he can't do is come out and say "I'm sorry guys. We fucked up. Our systems people failed to fully and properly account for this new system in the design criteria and as a result we failed to dedicate enough engineering resources to ensuring that faulty sensor inputs to this system couldn't result in a crash."

cjbprime 8y ago
This is why we have airworthiness certification, though. If you give full nosedown control authority to some system, that system needs to be redundant and have its failure probabilities modeled and accounted for, or the plane isn't fit to fly. Seems like the only way this "lack of criteria" can happen is when there's something very close to criminal negligence on Boeing's end and a regulator who either doesn't care or is being successfully lied to.
- phire 8y ago
  And that was the second part of his statement, that the design was certified by the FAA at the time. Not sure if he is trying to push the blame onto the FAA or imply that the FAA agrees MCAS isn't at fault.
atoav 8y ago
To me this sounds a lot like everybody is trying to shift their responsibility around in the hope that it will just vanish. The thing is: if Boeing can’t precisely pinpoint the fault, how should anybody else? And if nobdy else can and Boeing won’t, why would you trust them as a customer?
theclaw 8y ago
This is why you should not write your own tests. Where were the FAA when this system was verified? Did they even know it existed?
- acqq 8y ago
  > Where were the FAA when this system was verified? https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/failed-certification-faa-missed-safety-issues-in-the-737-max-system-implicated-in-the-lion-air-crash/ https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/faile... "The FAA, citing lack of funding and resources, has over the years delegated increasing authority to Boeing to take on more of the work of certifying the safety of its own airplanes."
  - theclaw 8y ago
    Well that fills me with confidence for the future of safe air travel. What could possibly go wrong?
    - whenchamenia 8y ago
      Not much without international media backlash and terrible pr it seems.

cjbprime 8y ago

This is why we have airworthiness certification, though. If you give full nosedown control authority to some system, that system needs to be redundant and have its failure probabilities modeled and accounted for, or the plane isn't fit to fly. Seems like the only way this "lack of criteria" can happen is when there's something very close to criminal negligence on Boeing's end and a regulator who either doesn't care or is being successfully lied to.

phire 8y ago
And that was the second part of his statement, that the design was certified by the FAA at the time. Not sure if he is trying to push the blame onto the FAA or imply that the FAA agrees MCAS isn't at fault.

atoav 8y ago

To me this sounds a lot like everybody is trying to shift their responsibility around in the hope that it will just vanish. The thing is: if Boeing can’t precisely pinpoint the fault, how should anybody else? And if nobdy else can and Boeing won’t, why would you trust them as a customer?

theclaw 8y ago

This is why you should not write your own tests. Where were the FAA when this system was verified? Did they even know it existed?

acqq 8y ago
> Where were the FAA when this system was verified? https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/failed-certification-faa-missed-safety-issues-in-the-737-max-system-implicated-in-the-lion-air-crash/ https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/faile... "The FAA, citing lack of funding and resources, has over the years delegated increasing authority to Boeing to take on more of the work of certifying the safety of its own airplanes."
- theclaw 8y ago
  Well that fills me with confidence for the future of safe air travel. What could possibly go wrong?
  - whenchamenia 8y ago
    Not much without international media backlash and terrible pr it seems.