Etiopian - Hvorfor USA og Canada ombestemte seg - AW&ST

Updated 15:15 UTC, Mar. 14, 2019

PARIS–French air accident investigation agency the BEA (Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses) has received the flight data recorder (FDR) and cockpit voice recorder (CVR) recovered from the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX whose crash has sparked a global wave of groundings for the aircraft type.

A BEA spokesman told Aviation Daily Mar. 14: “They arrived at 1 p.m.”

“An Ethiopian delegation led by Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) has flown the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) to Paris, France for investigation,” Ethiopian Airlines posted on Twitter Mar. 14.

The BEA also tweeted: “Coordination meetings are in progress. Technical work will start tomorrow.”

Flight ET302 crashed near Addis Ababa Mar. 10 with the loss of all 157 people on board, just over four months after a Lion Air 737 MAX 8 also crashed off the Indonesian coast Oct. 29.

On Mar. 13 the U.S. FAA joined other regulatory bodies around the world in grounding the type, citing new physical evidence and satellite data.

—Helen Massy-Beresford

Updated 15:00 UTC, Mar. 14, 2019

WASHINGTON—Refined satellite tracking data combined with some non-defined physical evidence from the wreckage of the Ethiopian Airlines crash site prompted Canada, and then the U.S., to ground the Boeing 737 MAX.

The morning of Mar. 13, Canada’s transport ministry announced that country’s grounding. Three Canadian airlines—Air Canada, WestJet and Sunwing—have MAXs in their fleets.

Hours later the same day, the U.S. abruptly changed course when President Donald Trump announced the U.S. was also grounding the MAX—the last country to do so. American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines operate MAXs.

Previously, FAA and U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) had said there was no evidence linking the Mar. 10 Ethiopian flight ET302 MAX 8 crash to the Lion Air MAX 8 crash, flight JT610, that occurred in Indonesia in October 2018. They stood by a decision to not ground the MAX; Boeing and the U.S. airlines supported the decision, saying they were confident in the MAX’s safety.

Given that the two black box recorders retrieved from the Ethiopian wreckage were still unopened and unexamined Wednesday Mar. 13, the new evidence had to be something else.

FAA’s emergency order stated the new information concerned “the aircraft’s configuration just after takeoff that, taken together with newly refined data from satellite-based tracking of the aircraft’s flight path,” which indicated similarities with what happened with the Lion Air flight.

“Suffice it to say the evidence found on the ground made it more likely that the flight path was closer to Lion Air,” FAA acting administrator Dan Elwell told reporters after the order was released.

The order’s language suggests discovery of wreckage that establishes the aircraft’s flight-control surface positions. Flight JT610 began to experience flight-control issues shortly after retracting its flaps after takeoff. Those issues are the focus of that ongoing investigation.

The refined satellite data, meanwhile, came from space-based ADS-B provider Aireon.

“The way the [initial] data was presented, it was not showing credible movement of an aircraft,” Elwell said.

The resulting track, including flight ET302’s altitude variations, lined up closely with JT610’s known track. This suggests ET302 was struggling to maintain altitude and then dove rapidly to impact, as happened with JT610 and which is why the Indonesian crash investigation is focused on the MAX’s maneuvering characteristics augmentation system (MCAS) anti-stall software. That investigation, like ET302, is ongoing.

Canadian transport minister Marc Garneau said that while links between the two crashes were still not conclusive, “there are similarities that exceed a certain threshold in our minds.”

FAA’s Elwell, explaining why the agency was the last to issue a MAX grounding, said, “we are a fact-driven, data-based organization. We make actions based on data, findings and risk assessment. That data coalesced today and we made the call.”

But questions will be asked about the gap between Canada’s and the U.S.’ grounding decisions. Did the regulatory authorities of each country have access to that satellite data and wreckage information at about the same time? If so, what led the U.S. authorities to wait more than three hours after Canada? And why did the U.S. president make that announcement, not FAA or DOT?

U.S. lawmakers were quick to raise those questions and call for oversight of FAA’s decision-making processes.

U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chair Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon), and House Aviation Subcommittee chair Rick Larsen (D-Washington) issued a statement late Wednesday afternoon saying, “Despite repeated assurances from the FAA in recent days, it has become abundantly clear to us that not only should the 737 MAX be grounded but also that there must be a rigorous investigation into why the aircraft, which has critical safety systems that did not exist on prior models, was certified without requiring additional pilot training. While a lot of data has yet to be recovered that will help explain why Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302 went down, as chairs of the committee and subcommittee with jurisdiction over the FAA and NTSB, we plan to conduct rigorous oversight with every tool at our disposal to get to the bottom of the FAA’s decision-making process.”

—Karen Walker

Updated 14:45 UTC, Mar. 14, 2019

AUCKLAND—The global grounding of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft is causing major operational headaches for many Asia-Pacific airlines, as they scramble to adjust their schedules to replace MAXs.

Several Asian carriers have MAX family aircraft in their fleets—in some cases just a handful, but still proportionally significant. Airlines have had to cancel some flights and reshuffle their fleets to cover for the MAXs. Even some carriers that have not yet received their first MAXs are altering their plans.

The groundings follow the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX 8 near Addis Ababa on Mar. 10. Many countries suspended MAX operations in the days following the crash, which effectively became a global action Mar. 13 when FAA ordered groundings and Boeing made a similar recommendation.

India’s SpiceJet operates 12 737 MAX 8s, and was among those carriers canceling some flights. The airline said it is “optimizing” the use of its Boeing 737NGs and Bombardier Q400s. It is also “evaluating options for augmenting capacity in the coming days through a mix of additional flights and aircraft inductions.” The carrier did not elaborate where it may source extra aircraft from, but predicted its operations would return to normal soon.

While Indian carrier Jet Airways has taken delivery of five 737 MAX 8s, these were already grounded due to lease payment defaults.

Singapore Airlines (SIA) subsidiary SilkAir has six 737 MAX 8s in its fleet. Most of its MAX routes will be covered by SilkAir’s 737-800s, Airbus A320s and A319s. However, the carrier has still had to cancel three return flights per day on the busy Singapore-Kuala Lumpur route on Mar. 13-15, and two flights on its route to Yangon, Myanmar on Mar. 17.

To help compensate for the reductions, parent SIA will operate extra flights during these periods. SIA will operate one additional A350 return flight per day on the Kuala Lumpur route. It will also add a flight on the Yangon route.

Indonesia’s Lion Air operates 10 737 MAX 8s out of a total fleet of about 121 aircraft. The Jakarta Post reports Lion will use other aircraft in its fleet to replace the MAX 8s. Joint venture Thai Lion Air has three 737 MAX 9s, and during the grounding it will operate its MAX 9 routes with 737-900ERs, 737-800s and A330s.

Fiji Airways, which operates two 737 MAX 8s, said it “has the capacity to manage the change of aircraft type” on the MAX 8 routes. The carrier intends to operate its full schedule, although it said some flight times may be changed. It will use its 737NGs and A330s to cover for the MAX 8s.

Korean Air does not operate any MAX aircraft yet, although it is due to take delivery of six 737 MAX 8s this year. The first of these is due in May, but the carrier has decided to proactively switch to different aircraft types on the routes planned for the initial MAX 8s. The aircraft were due to be deployed on routes to Japan and China.

The airline said it will not operate the 737 MAX 8s until the aircraft’s safety is assured. If the MAXs are cleared before May, Korean will review its deployment plans again.

—Adrian Schofield

Updated 20:30 UTC, Mar. 13, 2019

WASHINGTON—The U.S. FAA, relying on refined satellite tracking data and new physical evidence that more closely links two crashes of Boeing 737 MAX 8s, grounded Boeing’s newest narrowbody Mar. 13, with immediate effect.

The move ends three days of cascading groundings after the Mar. 10 Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 (ET302) accident, and leaves the world’s MAX fleet grounded.

“On Mar. 13, 2018, the investigation of the ET302 crash developed new information from the wreckage concerning the aircraft’s configuration just after takeoff that, taken together with newly refined data from satellite-based tracking of the aircraft’s flight path, indicates some similarities between the ET302 and [October 2018 Lion Air Flight] JT610 accidents that warrant further investigation of the possibility of a shared cause for the two incidents that needs to be better understood and addressed,” FAA said in its emergency order.

FAA Acting Administrator Dan Elwell, speaking to reporters after the order was released, made it clear that FAA made the decision to ground the aircraft. “The FAA is the safety authority for emergency airworthiness directives and orders,” he said. “FAA made the decision.”

U.S. President Donald Trump announced the move in a White House briefing at 2:30 p.m. U.S. ET Mar. 13. “I didn’t want to make this decision today,” Trump said. “I felt it was important, psychologically and in a lot of other ways. We just thought it was the right thing to do.” Trump said he spoke to both Boeing and U.S.-based MAX operators, and they “agreed it is the right thing to do.”

The stunning move brings an end to a series of MAX groundings that swept the globe. Earlier Mar. 13, Canadian officials, citing the same satellite data the U.S. had, announced MAX flight bans. Copa Airlines, another grounding holdout, announced its intention to ground its aircraft just before the U.S. announcement.

In a statement, Boeing said it has full confidence in the MAX, but concurred with the move. “After consultation with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and aviation authorities and its customers around the world, Boeing has determined—out of an abundance of caution and in order to reassure the flying public of the aircraft’s safety—to recommend to the FAA the temporary suspension of operations of the entire global fleet of 371 737 MAX aircraft. Boeing makes this recommendation and supports the decision by the FAA,” the company said.

—Sean Broderick

Updated 19:00 UTC, Mar. 13, 2019

U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the FAA to ground Boeing 737 MAXs immediately, ending three days of mounting pressure as industry seeks answers in two MAX aircraft accidents in five months. Aircraft in the air would land and stay grounded "until further notice," Trump said in a White House briefing at 2:30 p.m. U.S. ET Mar. 13.

"I didn't want to make this decision today," Trump said. "I felt it was important, psychologically and in a lot of other ways. We just thought it was the right thing to do."

FAA will issue an emergency airworthiness directive banning MAX operations.

FAA confirmed the grounding decision with a statement released at 3:00 p.m. U.S. ET, saying the agency made the decision “as a result of the data gathering process and new evidence collected at the site and analyzed today. The evidence, together with newly refined satellite data available to FAA this morning, led to this decision.” FAA said the grounding will remain in effect pending further investigation, including examination of information from the aircraft’s flight data recorders and cockpit voice recorders.

Trump said he spoke to both Boeing and U.S.-based MAX operators, and they "agreed it is the right thing to do."

The stunning move brings an end to a cascading series of MAX groundings that swept the globe. Earlier Mar. 13, Canadian officials, citing new data analyzed hours before, announced MAX flight bans. Copa Airlines, another grounding holdout, announced its intention to ground its aircraft just before the U.S. announcement.

In a statement, Boeing said it has full confidence in the MAX, but concurred with the move.

"After consultation with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and aviation authorities and its customers around the world, Boeing has determined — out of an abundance of caution and in order to reassure the flying public of the aircraft’s safety — to recommend to the FAA the temporary suspension of operations of the entire global fleet of 371 737 MAX aircraft. Boeing makes this recommendation and supports the decision by the FAA."

- Sean Broderick

Updated 17:00 UTC, Mar. 13, 2019

Canadian regulators, citing satellite tracking data that suggest the flight profile of the Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX that crashed Mar. 10 is similar to that of last October’s Lion Air MAX 8 accident, has banned all MAX operations in Canada until further notice.

The move, announced at 11:45 a.m. Canadian EDT Mar. 13 and done via a safety notice, is based on data received overnight and reviewed “this morning” by Canadian aviation experts, Transport Minister Marc Garneau said during a press briefing.

The satellite data analyzed included Ethiopian Flight ET302’s course, vertical profile, and “fluctuation in that vertical profile,” Garneau said. This was overlaid with a similar data set for Lion Air Flight JT610.

“We know what happened with the Lion Air flight,” Garneau said. “We wanted to see if the Ethiopian flight resembled it.”

They saw enough similarities to ban MAX operations.

Garneau cautioned that while the links between the two accidents “are not conclusive, there are similarities that exceed a certain threshold in our minds.”

Canada’s grounding justification is the strongest link yet between the two accidents involving newly delivered MAX 8s. In each case, the aircraft departed on early morning flights in clear weather. Both crews soon reported flight control problems and requested to return to their departure airports. Soon after, both went nose down at high speed and crashed.

The JT610 accident probe is focusing on erroneous sensor data triggering automatic nose-down inputs generated by the MAX’s maneuvering characteristics augmentation system (MCAS), which helps the aircraft’s performance match the 737 Next Generation (NG) in certain manual flight profiles.

Faulty data, such as a single angle-of-attack (AOA) sensor telling the aircraft that its nose its higher than it is, can cause MCAS to repeatedly push the nose down with automatic stabilizer deflections to compensate. Pilots can counter MCAS in several ways, including a switch that adjusts the automatic trim. But continuous faulty data will cause MCAS will respond with nose-down input, countering the pilots’ inputs. This was apparently the case on JT610.

Like the 737NG, the MAX includes a cutout switch that completely stops the automatic stabilizer movements—a last-resort step included in a pilot checklist designed to prevent unwanted nose-down input. The JT610 crew apparently did not activate the switches.

Little is known about what happened on ET302’s flight deck. The flight data and cockpit voice recorders have been recovered, but the data has not been analyzed. Airlines and regulators, caught in a state of limbo, have opted to ground the MAX and wait for more information. Canada and the U.S. had been the lone notable exceptions.

Now, the U.S. stands alone.

“Thus far, our review shows no systemic performance issues and provides no basis to order grounding the aircraft,” FAA Administrator Dan Elwell said late Mar. 12. “Nor have other civil aviation authorities provided data to us that would warrant action.”

Garneau said Canada informed the U.S. of its plans to ground the MAX “a short time” before the announcement was made.

Meanwhile, U.S. MAX operators continued to reiterate their confidence in the MAX.

“The Allied Pilots Association (APA), representing the 15,000 pilots of American Airlines, remains confident in the Boeing 737 MAX and in our members’ ability to safely fly it,” APA said. “The pilots for the world’s largest airline have the necessary training and experience to troubleshoot problems and take decisive actions on the flight deck to protect our passengers and crew. In the wake of the tragic loss of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 on Sunday, people around the world are jumping to conclusions about the Boeing 737 MAX. It is too early to determine possible causes.”

United Airlines’ Air Line Pilots Association Master Executive Council, in a message to the airline’s pilots, said the carrier has flown “more than 23,000 hours and analyzed thousands of safety data points” from its MAX 9 fleet. “Not one of these data points has been attributable to performance or mechanical deficiencies.”

Garneau said that Canadian regulators asked the country’s MAX operators, Air Canada, Sunwing, and WestJet, for any MCAS-related fault reports. The operators said they had none. - Sean Broderick