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>If the corrected airplane is deemed airworthy by the appropriate regulatory bodies, I'll have no problem flying on it. I disagree, and I think this is really
by nexuist 7y ago
>If the corrected airplane is deemed airworthy by the appropriate regulatory bodies, I'll have no problem flying on it.
I disagree, and I think this is really what makes the situation a far larger issue within the aviation community. It was approved by the appropriate regulatory bodies despite the serious failures by Boeing engineers and managers to identify and correct the MCAS problems before it was deployed into the field.
It's not a case of some crazy fluke that nobody knew was going to happen. This was a single sensor (aka a single point of failure) on a system that could nosedive a commercial airliner against the will of any human on or off board. You could ask anyone: "Is it a good idea to put a sensor on this plane that, if it malfunctions, will force the yoke forward and cause the plane to crash?" Not a single soul alive would think it is.
The fact that the FAA had the opportunity to tell Boeing to GTFO with this insane decision but didn't makes them a political body (i.e. pay for play, they wanted Boeing to generate 737 MAX sales even if it killed people) at worst and incompetent (they genuinely didn't realize the MCAS had problems) at best.
The FAA has, so far, miraculously avoided political controversies throughout its history and has always been regarded as a reputable, trustworthy body that deserves the privilege to regulate airways both in and out of U.S. territory. Losing their reputation could hurt air travel safety for decades to come.
- HeyLaughingBoy 7y agoYou disagree that I'll have no problem flying on it ;-) Look, I haven't worked in aviation electronics, but I have worked in another Federally regulated industry for a long time. Having "seen the sausage being made" as it were, none of this 737-MAX shenanigans surprises me. Perhaps that informs my opinions!
- nexuist 7y agoHa, I suppose I can't change your mind! What industry have you worked in? I'm interested in your perspective and insights. After all I'm just armchair general-ing at this point.
- HeyLaughingBoy 7y agoI was a software engineer in medical devices for over a decade. The regulatory agencies (FDA and the various agencies in Ireland, EU and other countries) behave in a similar fashion to the FAA. They acknowledge that the practitioners in the industry have far more experience and familiarity with the product that they do, so by necessity, they act mainly as oversight. In general, the industry is extremely quality-focused and would probably be so for a long time even without the oversight. That said, the companies will go to whatever length they can legally to not shoot themselves in the foot economically. So while I can't say that I know of any actual coverups or illegal behavior, I do know of cases where Problem Reports were analyzed to within an inch of their life to ensure that the business could legally and ethically avoid a product recall. You're building extremely complex systems and even with a sincere commitment to quality, things will go wrong. Is the 737-MAX fundamentally unsafe or poorly designed? I see nothing that even remotely hints at that.