Boeing considers stopping 737 Max production after huge loss
Boeing considers stopping 737 Max production after huge loss
Boeing reported its largest-ever quarterly loss of $3.4bn (£2.7bn) on Wednesday due to the large-scale grounding of the troubled plane after report of factory fault which led to crash of a Boeing 737 Max operated by Lion Air crashed.
Boeing issued a warning that it might have to halt production of the 737 Max if grounding continues much longer.
If hurdles with regulators worldwide continue, Boeing said it would consider reducing or shutting down production of the 737 Max entirely.
However, Boeing boss Dennis Muilenburg is confident the plane will be back in the air by October.
Boeing’s entire fleet of flagship 737 Max planes were grounded in March after an Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed, killing 157 people.
Five months earlier, 189 people were killed when a Boeing 737 Max operated by Lion Air crashed. The first was that the flight control system should be reviewed.
Following investigations into air mishaps involving Boeing, panel came up with a report that the Boeing 737 Max 8 should not be allowed to fly again until the problems with “flight controlability” are “adequately addressed”.
Ethiopia’s Transport Minister, Moges gave the following details into the crash of the Ethiopian Airlines flight last month:
· The aircraft possessed a valid certificate of airworthiness
· The crew obtained the correct license to conduct the flight
· The take-off appeared very normal
· The crew preformed all the procedures repeatedly provided by the manufacturer but were not able to control the aircraft
And she mentioned some recommendations including:
· It is recommended that the flight control system be reviewed by the manufacturer
BBC’s Tom Burridge reports that Boeing, a superpower of the aviation world, is in the midst of a profound crisis.
A brand new 737-Max 8 crashing after a new system on the modified aircraft malfunctioned is a disaster.
A second instance of the same model of plane suffering a similar fate five months later is a whole lot worse.
“There are new are add-ons going on to airliners all the time,” says Capt Chris Brady, who has been flying 737s for 18 years.
“Each add-on needs to have a robust risk analysis put on it. And that clearly didn’t happen here.”
Nose pushed down
The new anti-stall mechanism on the Max relied on data from one single sensor at the front of the aircraft.
On both occasions, erroneous data caused the aircraft to nosedive shortly after take-off.
In its reaction to the preliminary report into last month’s plane crash Ethiopian Airlines said it was proud that the pilots followed the emergency procedures in “such extremely difficult situations”.
The report said that while the pilots had followed the protocols outlined by Boeing they were unable to control the plane, which crashed six minutes after take off.
In the statement, Ethiopian Airlines said “it was very unfortunate that they could not recover the airplane from the resistance of nose diving”.