Email from Boeing to Ethiopian Airlines Sheds Light on a Tragic Crash (seattletimes.com) 21
Boeing received an email from the chief pilot at Ethiopian Airlines on December 1, 2018 with several questions, reports the New York Times (alternate URL here). "in essence the pilot was asking for direction. If we see a series of warnings on the new 737 Max, he posed, what do we do?"
What ensued was an email conversation among a number of Boeing senior officials about whether they could answer the pilot's questions without violating international restrictions on disseminating information about a crash while it was still under investigation. That restriction was in play because a 737 Max flown by Lion Air had crashed a few weeks earlier leaving Indonesia. The inquiry from Ethiopian Airlines would prove chillingly prescient because just months later one of its 737s would go down because of a flight control malfunction similar to the one that led to the Lion Air crash. The Ethiopian Airlines crash would kill everyone on board and leave questions about whether Boeing had done everything it could to inform pilots of what it had learned about the malfunction and how to handle it.
In response to the inquiry from Ethiopian Airlines, Boeing's chief pilot, Jim Webb, proposed to his colleagues that he thank the airline for attending a previous briefing on the flight control system, called MCAS, but otherwise decline to answer the pilot's first two questions and just refer the airline to training materials and previously issued guidance. Most of those on the email agreed.
Boeing's eventual response? "I can only address the current system and the Operations Manual Bulletin. The first two questions directly relate to the accident scenario; therefore, I will be unable to address them here." The Times adds that Boeing's chief pilot Jim Webb then "ended the email by stating that if airline officials had any additional questions about the bulletin and system, they should feel free to reach out....
"It is impossible to know whether any pilots with Ethiopian Arlines would have acted differently if Webb's reply had been more forthcoming. But Boeing's limited response to an airline seeking help highlights a missed opportunity to collaborate on safety and to pass along lessons Boeing had collected following the Lion Air jet's crash into the Java Sea on Oct. 29, 2018."
In response to the inquiry from Ethiopian Airlines, Boeing's chief pilot, Jim Webb, proposed to his colleagues that he thank the airline for attending a previous briefing on the flight control system, called MCAS, but otherwise decline to answer the pilot's first two questions and just refer the airline to training materials and previously issued guidance. Most of those on the email agreed.
Boeing's eventual response? "I can only address the current system and the Operations Manual Bulletin. The first two questions directly relate to the accident scenario; therefore, I will be unable to address them here." The Times adds that Boeing's chief pilot Jim Webb then "ended the email by stating that if airline officials had any additional questions about the bulletin and system, they should feel free to reach out....
"It is impossible to know whether any pilots with Ethiopian Arlines would have acted differently if Webb's reply had been more forthcoming. But Boeing's limited response to an airline seeking help highlights a missed opportunity to collaborate on safety and to pass along lessons Boeing had collected following the Lion Air jet's crash into the Java Sea on Oct. 29, 2018."
And yet (Score:3)
No one is sitting in jail over this.
Re: (Score:2)
No one is sitting in jail over this.
This can take a lot of time. Air France AF447 crashed off coast of Brazil in June 2009 nearly 10 years before the Ethiopian, and is still pending trial (in appeal).
Re: (Score:1)
No one is sitting in jail over this.
This can take a lot of time. Air France AF447 crashed off coast of Brazil in June 2009 nearly 10 years before the Ethiopian, and is still pending trial (in appeal).
10 years worth of appeal abuse, isn’t exactly an answer.
If jail time is the goal, sounds like those on the accusing end, have a goal too. Convict me after I’m dead.
Just the lawyers answered it (Score:2)
Anyone remotely believing that these answers from Boeing are not from lawyers?
Re: (Score:2)
No one is sitting in jail over this.
... but dead pilots got their names dragged through the mud by shameless corporate weasels. Sadly this is considered a normal and essential aspect of a "business friendly environment".
Sadly, this is considered normal for governments rigging the game, and for judicial systems which favor ritual over justice.
Re: (Score:2)
Call me when Boeing execs. go to prison. (Score:2)
Yawn.
Lawyers (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Good. He's probably not supporting Rump either. They're both terrible choices.
Protect the guilty and blame the pilot (Score:2)
Yea sure
“Newly revealed correspondence indicates that a Boeing senior official counseled that the company could answer a pilot’s safety question, but it did not.”
a. What was the name of this senior Boeing of
Re: (Score:2)
From TFA:
"What ensued was an email conversation among a number of Boeing senior officials about whether they could answer"
"Jim Webb, proposed to his colleagues that he [...] decline to answer the pilot’s first two questions"
"Most of those on the email agreed."
Everybody on the email list is called "Boeing senior official" and at least one of them disagreed. Boeing can use that to say "a Boeing senior official counseled ..."
I would have quit (Score:2)
In response to the inquiry from Ethiopian Airlines, Boeing's chief pilot, Jim Webb, proposed to his colleagues that he thank the airline for attending a previous briefing on the flight control system, called MCAS, but otherwise decline to answer the pilot's first two questions and just refer the airline to training materials and previously issued guidance. Most of those on the email agreed.
I would have quit.
I would have quit, in protest, and printed out the E-mail chain that showed I alerted management to the problem and their responses.
Because I've done that.
Used to work in the airline industry, writing software for instruments that went into Boeing airplanes and a few others. (But not actually the Boeing company.)
The one thing that weighed heavily on my mind, pretty much every day and with every paragraph of code, was that if there's a mistake it would cost the lives of 250+ people. Lots an
Well, that's helpful (Score:3)
"if airline officials had any additional questions about the bulletin and system, they should feel free to reach out...."
"We'll be happy to not answer those as well!"
Violating International Restrictions (Score:5, Insightful)
A bigger man would have sent the data and damned the regulations. He would have paid the price, but slept well.
Instead, he chose to accept the regulations (or maybe even hide behind them).
Seems that Boeing isn't staffed with bigger men. Its staffed with lesser ones.
Re: (Score:1)
A bigger man would have sent the data and damned the regulations. He would have paid the price, but slept well.
Presumably the executives slept well anyway.
Re: (Score:2)
A bigger man would have sent the data and damned the regulations. He would have paid the price, but slept well.
Presumably the executives slept well anyway.
As long as they profit they will always sleep well.
Re: (Score:2)
Taking action would have created other issues though. I imagine the real issue was giving NTSB more rope to hang them.