Boeing 737 Max: 'Standard' alert system was not operable on all airplanes

An alert system that was supposed to be a standard feature on Boeing's 737 Max aircraft "was not operable on all airplanes," the company has said.

Boeing said in a statement Monday that the function wasn't working on some of its planes because it was mistakenly linked to an optional feature, the angle of attack (AOA) indicator.

"The disagree alert was intended to be a standard, standalone feature on MAX airplanes. However, the disagree alert was not operable on all airplanes because the feature was not activated as intended," it said. "Unless an airline opted for the angle of attack indicator, the disagree alert was not operable."

The AOA indicator lets pilots know whether one of the AOA sensors is not working. The "disagree alert" shows if the sensors contradict each other. Boeing said the alert function was not necessary for the safe operation of the airplane.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/boeing-737-max-standard-alert-system-was-not-operable-on-all-airplanes/ar-AAAJTj2
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Boeing accused of negligence in new suits by victim families

WASHINGTON — Boeing Co. was sued Monday by two Canadians who lost 10 family members in the March crash of a 737 MAX in Ethiopia, adding to the aircraft manufacturer’s legal woes stemming from two deadly crashes by the jet.

Among the 157 people who died when Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed minutes after takeoff on March 10 were plaintiff Manant Vaidya’s mother, father, sister, brother-in-law and two nieces. Also on the doomed flight were the wife and three children of Paul Njoroge, the other plaintiff.

The series of complaints, filed in a federal court in Chicago, allege that Boeing was negligent in its design and certification of the 737 MAX, including a system on the jet that automatically pushes the aircraft’s nose down when sensor data indicate the plane is
approaching a stall.

The Ethiopian Airlines crash and the October crash of a Lion Air 737 MAX off the coast of Indonesia have been linked to the jet’s Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS, which automatically pushes down the aircraft’s nose to help prevent a stall. In both crashes, pilots struggled to keep the plane aloft after the system was activated by erroneous sensor data and ultimately pushed the planes into a fatal dive.

https://www.heraldnet.com/business/boeing-accused-of-negligence-in-new-suits-by-victim-families/?utm_source=DAILY+HERALD&utm_campaign=35a47f5cd6-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d81d073bb4-35a47f5cd6-228635337
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At contentious annual meeting, Boeing CEO defends 737 design

CHICAGO — At the Boeing Co.’s annual meeting for shareholders, one investor challenged CEO Dennis Muilenburg to explain why the company built the 737 MAX with a single sensor that was vulnerable to failure.

“That should have gone through some sort of internal review or something,” the Boeing shareholder said at the meeting. His name could not be confirmed.

“We don’t have to have 300-plus people die every time to find out that something isn’t reliable,” he said.

Boeing’s CEO and board of directors confronted difficult questions from investors and the media on Monday, the first time since two crashes of the 737 MAX jet threw the company into chaos. Speaking to a half-empty auditorium in the Field Museum, Muilenburg tried to reassure investors that the company takes safety concerns seriously and is working with regulators to update the technical features of the plane that contributed to both accidents.

https://www.heraldnet.com/business/boeing-shareholders-meet-as-737-max-faces-more-scrutiny/?utm_source=DAILY+HERALD&utm_campaign=35a47f5cd6-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d81d073bb4-35a47f5cd6-228635337
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At least 4 potential whistleblower calls made to FAA about Boeing 737 Max

The Federal Aviation Administration has received at least four calls from potential Boeing employee whistleblowers about issues with the company's new 737 Max jetliner, CBS News has confirmed.

The calls began coming in within hours of Ethiopian investigators releasing a preliminary report on the second of those crashes, that of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 last month.

A source familiar with them confirms the April 5 calls were from current and former Boeing employees alleging possible issues related to the angle of attack (AOA) sensor and the MCAS anti-stall system that relies on data from the sensor.

Both have been linked to the two deadly 737Max crashes that killed nearly 350 people and lead to the grounding of the aircraft worldwide.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/boeing-737-max-8-at-least-4-potential-whistleblower-calls-made-to-faa-about-jetliner/