6 ms·

Software Link Suspected in Airbus Engine Blowouts

27 points by classicsnoot 7y ago

christkv 7y ago
I thought the A220 is a rebranded Bombardier model ?
- lampington 7y ago
  From the article: "Formerly known as the CSeries, the 110-130-seat A220 was designed by Canada’s Bombardier (BBDb.TO) and was one of the first to adopt the new Pratt & Whitney technology. Bombardier sold the program to Airbus last year due to heavy losses."
  - eloff 7y ago
    If I recall they sold a very good product for a dollar because of extremely anticompetitive and monopolistic abuse by Airbus and Boeing that would have made Rockefeller blush. If bombardier was an American company I think the DOJ would have come down hard on Airbus and Boeing. But they can't be expected to protect foreign competition.
    - bobthepanda 7y ago
      I don't recall any of the abuse coming from Airbus. Because of all that hubbub with Boeing resulting in US tariffs, the A220 is now manufactured in Alabama by Airbus.
      - mveety 7y ago
        Almost none came from Airbus. Really you could almost say they came to Bombardier’s aid.
        eloff 7y ago
        Buying a billion dollar product for $1 is a funny kind of aid. But yes, Boeing was the aggressor here.
  - bobthepanda 7y ago
    It's worth noting that the problem is with the engine manufacturer's software; the Pratt and Whitney PW1000G family has had issues on the other planes it's on, namely the A320neo and Embraer E-Jet E2.
wonderwonder 7y ago
I work at a company that is currently suffering through very public issues caused by bugs in our code and I feel pretty bad about it. Then I read this article and the one this morning about Twitter's entire quarter essentially being torpedoed due to a buggy platform and it makes me relax a little and realize that bugs in very public facing code are just part of life.
- wil421 7y ago
  I don’t work with one of my employer’s products, rather a few IT systems used by most of the enterprise. It’s a big support platform with a portal used by almost every customer. However, I feel pretty bad when I have to do a hotfix after a deployment. My boss told me this is just a part of developing software and partly due to the lack of support with have during testing. Coupled with a huge lack of defined processes and documentation by the end users. I’m looking to transition in the next year to working on a revenue generating product that’s not off the shelf. I hope my worries don’t increase but they might for a time.
- kemiller2002 7y ago
  I used to feel bad. I don't anymore. I make my own share of mistakes. I firmly admit that, but it's really easy for others in the business to blame the developers for defects in software. "Well, you made them." Yes, I did, but I am not the one who didn't allow time for us to properly check things, or created the work culture where people are on edge about getting things done. I'm not perfect, but I'm done with other people blaming me and making me feel totally responsible for being in a position where I can't effectively do my job.
  - wonderwonder 7y ago
    My department is velocity driven (agile) meaning we have to complete a certain number of points each week. Quality loses its importance when quantity is the main driver for being employed.
    - rmah 7y ago
british_india 7y ago
Both Airbus and Boeing have outsourced their software development to low-cost Indian companies, with dubious results. https://operationsroom.wordpress.com/2012/07/17/boeing-and-airbus-outsourcing-and-managing-visibility/ https://operationsroom.wordpress.com/2012/07/17/boeing-and-a...

27 points by classicsnoot 7y ago

christkv 7y ago

I thought the A220 is a rebranded Bombardier model ?

lampington 7y ago
From the article: "Formerly known as the CSeries, the 110-130-seat A220 was designed by Canada’s Bombardier (BBDb.TO) and was one of the first to adopt the new Pratt & Whitney technology. Bombardier sold the program to Airbus last year due to heavy losses."
- eloff 7y ago
  If I recall they sold a very good product for a dollar because of extremely anticompetitive and monopolistic abuse by Airbus and Boeing that would have made Rockefeller blush. If bombardier was an American company I think the DOJ would have come down hard on Airbus and Boeing. But they can't be expected to protect foreign competition.
  - bobthepanda 7y ago
    I don't recall any of the abuse coming from Airbus. Because of all that hubbub with Boeing resulting in US tariffs, the A220 is now manufactured in Alabama by Airbus.
    - mveety 7y ago
      Almost none came from Airbus. Really you could almost say they came to Bombardier’s aid.
      - eloff 7y ago
        Buying a billion dollar product for $1 is a funny kind of aid. But yes, Boeing was the aggressor here.
- bobthepanda 7y ago
  It's worth noting that the problem is with the engine manufacturer's software; the Pratt and Whitney PW1000G family has had issues on the other planes it's on, namely the A320neo and Embraer E-Jet E2.

wonderwonder 7y ago

I work at a company that is currently suffering through very public issues caused by bugs in our code and I feel pretty bad about it. Then I read this article and the one this morning about Twitter's entire quarter essentially being torpedoed due to a buggy platform and it makes me relax a little and realize that bugs in very public facing code are just part of life.

wil421 7y ago
I don’t work with one of my employer’s products, rather a few IT systems used by most of the enterprise. It’s a big support platform with a portal used by almost every customer. However, I feel pretty bad when I have to do a hotfix after a deployment. My boss told me this is just a part of developing software and partly due to the lack of support with have during testing. Coupled with a huge lack of defined processes and documentation by the end users. I’m looking to transition in the next year to working on a revenue generating product that’s not off the shelf. I hope my worries don’t increase but they might for a time.
kemiller2002 7y ago
I used to feel bad. I don't anymore. I make my own share of mistakes. I firmly admit that, but it's really easy for others in the business to blame the developers for defects in software. "Well, you made them." Yes, I did, but I am not the one who didn't allow time for us to properly check things, or created the work culture where people are on edge about getting things done. I'm not perfect, but I'm done with other people blaming me and making me feel totally responsible for being in a position where I can't effectively do my job.
- wonderwonder 7y ago
  My department is velocity driven (agile) meaning we have to complete a certain number of points each week. Quality loses its importance when quantity is the main driver for being employed.
  - rmah 7y ago

british_india 7y ago

Both Airbus and Boeing have outsourced their software development to low-cost Indian companies, with dubious results. https://operationsroom.wordpress.com/2012/07/17/boeing-and-airbus-outsourcing-and-managing-visibility/ https://operationsroom.wordpress.com/2012/07/17/boeing-and-a...