4 ms·

The main cause was completely insane specifications. With a reasonable design the plane would not have become uncontrollable under any possible sequence of even

by ncmncm 4y ago

The main cause was completely insane specifications. With a reasonable design the plane would not have become uncontrollable under any possible sequence of events, training or no, familiarity or no.

giantg2 4y ago
True, but we live in an age where we we trust our lives with computers so that we can do things we couldn't do otherwise. Flight control computers are necessary for most new commercial and military aircraft because they're fly by wire or can be uncontrollable by nature (Max, V22, etc). We're at the point that the FAA and people in general don't care about an inherent instability if the computer can fly it.
- ncmncm 4y ago
  The computer was not flying it. The computer was actively fighting the pilot, who was desperately trying to keep it flying, while the computer was forcing it to crash instead. To be clear: with the computer entirely powered off, the plane would have flown just fine. Not exactly like other 737s, but more like them than anything else.
  - giantg2 4y ago
    "The computer was not flying it. ... the computer was forcing it to crash instead." Sounds to me like the computer was in fact in control of the plane if it causes it to crash. The "computer" is the MCAS system that sits between the pilot and the actual control surfaces. This is a fly by wire aircraft. Yes they could have turned the MCAS off and had it fly ok... if they even knew it existed. Although they weren't trained on the different flight characteristics they would experience with it off either. "with the computer entirely powered off, the plane would have flown just fine." Just to be clear, if you had a total computer failure or power down, a fly by wire aircraft could not function. I assume you are only talking about the MCAS.
    - ncmncm 4y ago
      No, 737MAX is not a fly-by-wire aircraft. The controls are physically connected to control surfaces via actual physical cables. But, the computer can yank on those cables, and it can also run the elevator trim up and down, and does. So, no, I am not just talking about "the MCAS". There is no such thing. That is a software feature that is part of the autopilot system, not any sort of hardware. They could have pulled the circuit breaker on the whole flight computer, and flown without it.

by ncmncm 4y ago

The main cause was completely insane specifications. With a reasonable design the plane would not have become uncontrollable under any possible sequence of events, training or no, familiarity or no.

giantg2 4y ago

True, but we live in an age where we we trust our lives with computers so that we can do things we couldn't do otherwise. Flight control computers are necessary for most new commercial and military aircraft because they're fly by wire or can be uncontrollable by nature (Max, V22, etc). We're at the point that the FAA and people in general don't care about an inherent instability if the computer can fly it.

ncmncm 4y ago
The computer was not flying it. The computer was actively fighting the pilot, who was desperately trying to keep it flying, while the computer was forcing it to crash instead. To be clear: with the computer entirely powered off, the plane would have flown just fine. Not exactly like other 737s, but more like them than anything else.
- giantg2 4y ago
  "The computer was not flying it. ... the computer was forcing it to crash instead." Sounds to me like the computer was in fact in control of the plane if it causes it to crash. The "computer" is the MCAS system that sits between the pilot and the actual control surfaces. This is a fly by wire aircraft. Yes they could have turned the MCAS off and had it fly ok... if they even knew it existed. Although they weren't trained on the different flight characteristics they would experience with it off either. "with the computer entirely powered off, the plane would have flown just fine." Just to be clear, if you had a total computer failure or power down, a fly by wire aircraft could not function. I assume you are only talking about the MCAS.
  - ncmncm 4y ago
    No, 737MAX is not a fly-by-wire aircraft. The controls are physically connected to control surfaces via actual physical cables. But, the computer can yank on those cables, and it can also run the elevator trim up and down, and does. So, no, I am not just talking about "the MCAS". There is no such thing. That is a software feature that is part of the autopilot system, not any sort of hardware. They could have pulled the circuit breaker on the whole flight computer, and flown without it.