https://www.rt.com/usa/462492-boeing-lawsuit-pilots-737max/
400+ 737 MAX pilots sue Boeing over ‘unprecedented cover-up’ that led to crashes & grounding
Published time: 23 Jun, 2019 06:19
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An engine of a Boeing 737 MAX © Reuters
The legal action was started by a pilot, identified only as ‘Pilot X’ in court documents, which were seen by the Australian Broadcasting Company. He was joined by over 400 fellow pilots, trained to fly the fourth-generation narrow-body 737 MAX aircraft. They accuse the Chicago-based aviation corporation of hushing known concerns about the glitch-ridden equipment installed on the jets.
Also on rt.com ‘Failed to warn of the defect’: Boeing sued over Ethiopia crash
The main problem with the jets is rooted in the “inherently dangerous aerodynamic handling defects” of the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), designed to prevent the plane from stalling. Its smooth operation depends on data it receives from two Angle of Attack (AoA) alert sensors. There are two of them for a reason: if the data from the sensors does not match, then a AoA Disagree alert should light up, notifying the pilots of the discrepancy.
For the latter to work properly, an optional set of indicators needs to be installed on the plane, and only 20 percent of the 737 MAX jets had them. Boeing recently admitted that it knew of the problem since at least 2017, but did not notify the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) until after the Lion Air flight with 189 people on board crashed in Indonesia last October. Moreover, it did not plan to update the software until 2020.
Read more
Airbus steals Paris Air Show with twice as many new plane orders than Boeing
The lawsuit, which demands compensation for lost wages and mental suffering that the pilots endured due to the grounding, alleges that the aviation giant should have known that by sweeping the issue under the rug, it set the stage for exactly that outcome.
The complaint says that Boeing “engaged in an unprecedented cover-up of the known design flaws of the MAX, which predictably resulted in the crashes of two MAX aircraft and subsequent grounding of all MAX aircraft worldwide.”
Pilots “suffer and continue to suffer significant lost wages, among other economic and non-economic damages,” it claims.
In addition, the pilots accuse Boeing of providing little instruction on how to handle the anti-stalling feature, which is only briefly mentioned in the flight manuals. They allege that such casual approach to familiarizing pilots with new software was deliberate – and was meant to save the cost of introducing new simulator-based training so that pilots would take up “revenue-generating routes as quickly as possible.”
The plaintiffs say that their ultimate goal is to prevent tragedies such as the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes, which claimed 346 lives, from happening in the future by deterring “Boeing and other airplane manufacturers from placing corporate profits ahead of the lives of the pilots, crews, and general public they service.”
The lawsuit will be heard by a Chicago court in October.
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https://www.rt.com/business/455044-boeing-sued-ethiopian-crash/
‘Failed to warn of the defect’: Boeing sued over Ethiopia crash
Published time: 29 Mar, 2019 09:53
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© Reuters / Matt Mills McKnight
The lawsuit was filed in Chicago federal court by the family of Jackson Musoni, a citizen of Rwanda. It alleges that Boeing, which manufactures the 737 MAX, had defectively designed the automated flight control system. It follows earlier suits against the US company over the October Indonesia crash.
“The subject accident occurred because, among other things, Boeing defectively designed a new flight control system for the Boeing 737 MAX 8 that automatically and erroneously pushes the aircraft’s nose down, and because Boeing failed to warn of the defect,” the complaint said.
Also on rt.com Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 crash: Questions that remain unanswered
Steven Marks, the lawyer who filed the complaint, has criticized the certification process for the 737 Max 8, saying it amounted to an “amendment” of a 50-year-old model rather than a more rigorous approval process for a “new aircraft.”
“Boeing and the FAA knew about the dangers and they failed to ground the fleet,” said Marks, who also is suing over the Lion Air crash which happened in Indonesia. He said the similarities between the two accidents are “very clear.”
Boeing said it could not comment on the lawsuit. According to the company’s spokesperson, who was cited by the Guardian, it “... is working with the authorities to evaluate new information as it becomes available.” All inquiries about the ongoing accident investigation must be directed to the investigating authorities, the spokesperson said.
Also on rt.com Airlines lining up for Boeing compensation over grounded jets
The US aerospace giant is under intense scrutiny after two crashes, less than six months apart, killed 346 people. It is facing a criminal probe and questions from lawmakers over whether it has too cozy a relationship with its US regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration.
The company will have to make substantial payouts to the families of passengers if it’s found responsible for both the Indonesia and Ethiopia crashes. Experts say the second accident could prove even more damaging for the company because plaintiffs will argue the manufacturer was put on notice by the earlier tragedy.
Also on rt.com Boeing’s latest crashes pose serious risk to global AI development – analysts
The world’s biggest aircraft manufacturer Boeing lost billions of dollars in market value in the days after the Ethiopia crash as regulators grounded all MAX 8s across the globe.
The company is now preparing to submit final paperwork to US regulators for a software upgrade to an anti-stall countermeasure on the 737 MAX which investigators said, in a preliminary report, repeatedly pushed the nose down on the MAX operated by Lion Air.
For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section
https://www.rt.com/business/462406-airbus-outpaces-boeing-paris-show/
Airbus steals Paris Air Show with twice as many new plane orders than Boeing
Published time: 21 Jun, 2019 15:32
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FILE PHOTO: An Airbus A321 Neo © AFP / Christophe Archambault
European aerospace company Airbus has dominated Le Bourget airfield as it easily outpaced US rival Boeing with the number of orders for its aircraft on the final day of trading at the Paris Air Show.
The business program at one of the world’s largest aerospace-industry exhibitions closed on Thursday. Over the four days, Airbus secured firm orders, letters of intent and memorandums-of-understanding for 595 jets, while Boeing had orders for 234 planes, according to the aviation consulting firm IBA.iQ which tracks aircraft orders.
Boeing inked the first deal at the 2019 Paris Air Show on Tuesday, as South Korea’s biggest carrier Korean Air Lines Co Ltd announced the purchase of 20 Boeing 787-10s and a lease on 10 Boeing 787-9s. On Wednesday, it won its first orders for 200 Boeing 737 Max planes, a surprise since the aircraft were grounded in most parts of the world after two fatal crashes.
Also on rt.com Trump told you so! Boeing says it’s open to changing the name of its troubled 737 MAX jet
Meanwhile Airbus presented the youngest member of its aircraft family, the long-range, single-aisle A321XLR, which became the star of the show. This model alone won 48 aircraft orders, 79 commitments and 99 conversions from A321 to XLR, the company said in a statement.
For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section
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400+ 737 MAX pilots sue Boeing over ‘unprecedented cover-up’ that led to crashes & grounding
Published time: 23 Jun, 2019 06:19
Get short URL
An engine of a Boeing 737 MAX © Reuters
The legal action was started by a pilot, identified only as ‘Pilot X’ in court documents, which were seen by the Australian Broadcasting Company. He was joined by over 400 fellow pilots, trained to fly the fourth-generation narrow-body 737 MAX aircraft. They accuse the Chicago-based aviation corporation of hushing known concerns about the glitch-ridden equipment installed on the jets.
Also on rt.com ‘Failed to warn of the defect’: Boeing sued over Ethiopia crash
The main problem with the jets is rooted in the “inherently dangerous aerodynamic handling defects” of the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), designed to prevent the plane from stalling. Its smooth operation depends on data it receives from two Angle of Attack (AoA) alert sensors. There are two of them for a reason: if the data from the sensors does not match, then a AoA Disagree alert should light up, notifying the pilots of the discrepancy.
For the latter to work properly, an optional set of indicators needs to be installed on the plane, and only 20 percent of the 737 MAX jets had them. Boeing recently admitted that it knew of the problem since at least 2017, but did not notify the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) until after the Lion Air flight with 189 people on board crashed in Indonesia last October. Moreover, it did not plan to update the software until 2020.
Read more
Airbus steals Paris Air Show with twice as many new plane orders than Boeing The lawsuit, which demands compensation for lost wages and mental suffering that the pilots endured due to the grounding, alleges that the aviation giant should have known that by sweeping the issue under the rug, it set the stage for exactly that outcome.
The complaint says that Boeing “engaged in an unprecedented cover-up of the known design flaws of the MAX, which predictably resulted in the crashes of two MAX aircraft and subsequent grounding of all MAX aircraft worldwide.”
Pilots “suffer and continue to suffer significant lost wages, among other economic and non-economic damages,” it claims.
In addition, the pilots accuse Boeing of providing little instruction on how to handle the anti-stalling feature, which is only briefly mentioned in the flight manuals. They allege that such casual approach to familiarizing pilots with new software was deliberate – and was meant to save the cost of introducing new simulator-based training so that pilots would take up “revenue-generating routes as quickly as possible.”
The plaintiffs say that their ultimate goal is to prevent tragedies such as the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes, which claimed 346 lives, from happening in the future by deterring “Boeing and other airplane manufacturers from placing corporate profits ahead of the lives of the pilots, crews, and general public they service.”
The lawsuit will be heard by a Chicago court in October.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
https://www.rt.com/business/455044-boeing-sued-ethiopian-crash/
‘Failed to warn of the defect’: Boeing sued over Ethiopia crash
Published time: 29 Mar, 2019 09:53
Get short URL
© Reuters / Matt Mills McKnight
- 771
The lawsuit was filed in Chicago federal court by the family of Jackson Musoni, a citizen of Rwanda. It alleges that Boeing, which manufactures the 737 MAX, had defectively designed the automated flight control system. It follows earlier suits against the US company over the October Indonesia crash.
“The subject accident occurred because, among other things, Boeing defectively designed a new flight control system for the Boeing 737 MAX 8 that automatically and erroneously pushes the aircraft’s nose down, and because Boeing failed to warn of the defect,” the complaint said.
Also on rt.com Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 crash: Questions that remain unanswered
Steven Marks, the lawyer who filed the complaint, has criticized the certification process for the 737 Max 8, saying it amounted to an “amendment” of a 50-year-old model rather than a more rigorous approval process for a “new aircraft.”
“Boeing and the FAA knew about the dangers and they failed to ground the fleet,” said Marks, who also is suing over the Lion Air crash which happened in Indonesia. He said the similarities between the two accidents are “very clear.”
Boeing said it could not comment on the lawsuit. According to the company’s spokesperson, who was cited by the Guardian, it “... is working with the authorities to evaluate new information as it becomes available.” All inquiries about the ongoing accident investigation must be directed to the investigating authorities, the spokesperson said.
Also on rt.com Airlines lining up for Boeing compensation over grounded jets
The US aerospace giant is under intense scrutiny after two crashes, less than six months apart, killed 346 people. It is facing a criminal probe and questions from lawmakers over whether it has too cozy a relationship with its US regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration.
The company will have to make substantial payouts to the families of passengers if it’s found responsible for both the Indonesia and Ethiopia crashes. Experts say the second accident could prove even more damaging for the company because plaintiffs will argue the manufacturer was put on notice by the earlier tragedy.
Also on rt.com Boeing’s latest crashes pose serious risk to global AI development – analysts
The world’s biggest aircraft manufacturer Boeing lost billions of dollars in market value in the days after the Ethiopia crash as regulators grounded all MAX 8s across the globe.
The company is now preparing to submit final paperwork to US regulators for a software upgrade to an anti-stall countermeasure on the 737 MAX which investigators said, in a preliminary report, repeatedly pushed the nose down on the MAX operated by Lion Air.
For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section
https://www.rt.com/business/462406-airbus-outpaces-boeing-paris-show/
Airbus steals Paris Air Show with twice as many new plane orders than Boeing
Published time: 21 Jun, 2019 15:32
Get short URL
FILE PHOTO: An Airbus A321 Neo © AFP / Christophe Archambault
European aerospace company Airbus has dominated Le Bourget airfield as it easily outpaced US rival Boeing with the number of orders for its aircraft on the final day of trading at the Paris Air Show.
The business program at one of the world’s largest aerospace-industry exhibitions closed on Thursday. Over the four days, Airbus secured firm orders, letters of intent and memorandums-of-understanding for 595 jets, while Boeing had orders for 234 planes, according to the aviation consulting firm IBA.iQ which tracks aircraft orders.
Paris Air Show Day 4 - View our full report on orders and announcements below... https://t.co/9fPaWw3MGQ … #pas2019#avgeek#aviationpic.twitter.com/MMeupIlbuz
— IBA (@IBAaviation) June 20, 2019
Boeing had a rough start from the very beginning of the show on Monday when the company recorded zero orders, while its main competitor in the large jet airliner market, Airbus, won 100 orders.— IBA (@IBAaviation) June 20, 2019
Boeing inked the first deal at the 2019 Paris Air Show on Tuesday, as South Korea’s biggest carrier Korean Air Lines Co Ltd announced the purchase of 20 Boeing 787-10s and a lease on 10 Boeing 787-9s. On Wednesday, it won its first orders for 200 Boeing 737 Max planes, a surprise since the aircraft were grounded in most parts of the world after two fatal crashes.
Also on rt.com Trump told you so! Boeing says it’s open to changing the name of its troubled 737 MAX jet
Meanwhile Airbus presented the youngest member of its aircraft family, the long-range, single-aisle A321XLR, which became the star of the show. This model alone won 48 aircraft orders, 79 commitments and 99 conversions from A321 to XLR, the company said in a statement.
For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section
Follow RT on
Trends:Boeing newsParis news
