Finds Fault With Boeing, FAA, Airline Workers And Crew

The Indonesian government is expected to release its final report on the October 29, 2018 accident involving a Lion Air 737 MAX airplane ... one of two crashes which led to the worldwide grounding of the aircraft ... late Friday or on Saturday.

According to Reuters, which has seen a copy of the document. In its report, Indonesia makes recommendations to Boeing, the FAA and other agencies.

Indonesian Regulators criticized the design of the MCAS anti-stall system. “The design and certification of the MCAS did not adequately consider the likelihood of loss of control of the aircraft,” the report said. It also sites "deficiencies" in communication among the flight crew, and said alerts and distractions in the cockpit contributed to the accident.

“From what we know, there are nine things that contributed to this accident,” Indonesian air accident investigator Nurcahyo Utomo said at a news conference. “If one of the nine hadn’t occurred, maybe the accident wouldn’t have occurred.”

Boeing issued a statement ahead of the formal release of the report.

"On behalf of everyone at Boeing, I want to convey our heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives in these accidents. We mourn with Lion Air, and we would like to express our deepest sympathies to the Lion Air family," said Boeing president & CEO Dennis Muilenburg in the statement released to the media. "These tragic events have deeply affected us all and we will always remember what happened."

"We commend Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) for its extensive efforts to determine the facts of this accident, the contributing factors to its cause and recommendations aimed toward our common goal that this never happens again."

"We are addressing the KNKT's safety recommendations, and taking actions to enhance the safety of the 737 MAX to prevent the flight control conditions that occurred in this accident from ever happening again. Safety is an enduring value for everyone at Boeing and the safety of the flying public, our customers, and the crews aboard our airplanes is always our top priority. We value our long-standing partnership with Lion Air and we look forward to continuing to work together in the future."

Boeing experts, working as technical advisors to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, have supported  KNKT over the course of the investigation. The company's engineers have been working with the FAA and other global regulators to make software updates and other changes, taking into account the information from the KNKT's investigation.

Since this accident, the 737 MAX and its software are undergoing an unprecedented level of global regulatory oversight, testing and analysis. This includes hundreds of simulator sessions and test flights, regulatory analysis of thousands of documents, reviews by regulators and independent experts and extensive certification requirements.

Over the past several months Boeing has been making changes to the 737 MAX. Most significantly, Boeing has redesigned the way Angle of Attack (AoA) sensors work with a feature of the flight control software known as Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS). Going forward, MCAS will compare information from both AoA sensors before activating, adding a new layer of protection.

In addition, MCAS will now only turn on if both AoA sensors agree, will only activate once in response to erroneous AOA, and will always be subject to a maximum limit that can be overridden with the control column.  

These software changes will prevent the flight control conditions that occurred in this accident from ever happening again.

In addition, Boeing is updating crew manuals and pilot training, designed to ensure every pilot has all of the information they need to fly the 737 MAX safely.

Boeing continues to work with the FAA and other regulatory agencies worldwide on the certification of the software update and training program to safely return the 737 MAX to service, the statement said.

(Source: Boeing statement and as cited. Images from file)

FMI: www.boeing.com
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