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Agence France-Presse

A fix to the anti-stall system suspected in the crash of a Boeing 737 MAX 8 jet that killed 189 people in Indonesia is ready, industry sources said, as the company tries to avoid a lengthy grounding of its planes.
Boeing was due to present the patch to officials and pilots of US airlines – American, Southwest and United – in Renton, Washington state, where the plane is assembled, other sources said.
“Boeing has already finalised the necessary corrective measures for the MAX,” an aviation sector source said on condition of anonymity.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will receive the patch early this week, a government source added.
Asked how long the certification process could take after the patch is in the hands of the authorities, this source said that nothing has been decided yet.
The FAA declined to comment.
The Lion Air crash in Indonesia last October and another accident this month involving an Ethiopian Airlines jet, which killed 346 people between them, have raised major concerns about the safety certification of the 737 MAX 8 model.

The Ethiopian Airlines crash on March 10 led to the global grounding of 737 MAX planes.
Although it will take months to determine the exact cause of both crashes, investigators in the Lion case have honed in on the MCAS automated anti-stalling system designed to point the nose of the plane downward if it is in danger of stalling, or losing lift.
American Airlines and Southwest pilots were to test simulators with the updates, according to the sources.
Pilot who hitched a ride saved doomed Boeing 737 MAX 8 on next-to-last Lion Air flight
Boeing neither confirmed nor denied the information.
The FAA had given until April for Boeing to make the necessary changes to the critical anti-stall system, and on March 15 two anonymous industry sources said the upgrade would be ready in about 10 days.
A spokesman for United Airlines, whose fleet includes 14 of the 737 MAX 9 planes, confirmed the company’s attendance at the training session.




Southwest and its SWAPA pilots union “have subject matter experts from our Technical Pilot Team and Training Teams headed to Boeing to review documentation and training associated with the modification to the B737 speed trim system,” a spokeswoman said.
The company is one of the biggest 737 MAX 8 customers, owning 34 of the planes.
“We’ve been working diligently and in close cooperation with the FAA on the software update. We are taking a comprehensive and careful approach to design, develop and test the software that will ultimately lead to certification,” a Boeing spokeswoman said.
“There will be training provided by Boeing.”
Indonesia’s Garuda to cancel order of 49 Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets after fatal crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia
In addition to the software modification, the industry sources said Boeing has also finalised updates to its flight and pilots’ training manuals, as the FAA asked.
“We have been engaging with all 737 MAX operators and we are continuing to schedule meetings to share information about our plans for supporting the 737 MAX fleet,” the Boeing spokeswoman said, declining to confirm the timeline for the changes.
In another modification, the 737 MAX will be outfitted with a warning light for malfunctions in the anti-stall system, an industry source said on Thursday, standardising a feature previously sold as an optional extra.

Neither the Lion Air aircraft nor the Ethiopian Airlines jet had the feature, the industry source said.
US and Ethiopian authorities have said this month’s crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET302 near Addis Ababa bore “similarities” to last year’s Lion Air crash.
Since the Ethiopian crash, pressure has intensified on Boeing and the image of the company – which also makes combat aircraft and space equipment – has been eroded.
Share value of the firm, which says it is the world’s largest aerospace manufacturer, has dropped 12 per cent since the accident, wiping out US$28 billion in market capitalisation
Boeing and the FAA are under investigation by the Transportation Department over how the roll-out of the jet was handled, including the anti-stall system.
The acting FAA head is among transport officials who are to testify on Wednesday before a congressional subcommittee.
Questioning is likely to focus on tight links between Boeing and the regulators, who maintain offices in the aeroplane factories and delegated a large part of the certification process for the 737 MAX and its anti-stall system to employees of Boeing, sources said.
Press reports say that the Department of Justice has also opened a criminal investigation into the 737 MAX’s development.
Ralph Nader, the veteran US consumer protection advocate who lost a relative in the Ethiopia crash, called Friday for an organisation to defend passengers’ rights.
Additional reporting by Reuters


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Boeing

Software patch for Boeing’s troubled 737 MAX is ‘ready’

Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration are nearing completion of a long-awaited software and training overhaul for the 737 MAX 8 jet. Photo: Bloomberg

A worker is seen inside a Boeing 737 MAX 9 at the Renton plant. The circular sensor seen at bottom right measures the plane's angle of attack, the angle between the airflow and the wing. This sensor on 737 MAX planes is under scrutiny as a possible cause of two recent fatal crashes. (Mike Siegel/The Seattle Times/TNS)

FILE PHOTO: An aerial photo shows Boeing 737 MAX airplanes parked on the tarmac at the Boeing Factory in Renton, Washington, U.S. March 21, 2019. REUTERS/Lindsey Wasson/File Photo

US Transportation Department probes FAA approval of Boeing’s 737 MAX as anti-stall system comes under scrutiny

The cockpit of a grounded Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft. Photo: Bloomberg

epa07434623 (FILE) - An American Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 (Tail Number N323RM) lands at LaGuardia Airport in New York, New York, USA, 12 March 2019 (Reissued 13 March 2019). US President Donald J. Trump announced on 13 March 2019 that the US is issuing an emergency order to ground all Boeing 737 Max 8 and 9 and other planes associated with that line. He added that the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) and Boeing were in agreement with this action. EPA-EFE/JUSTIN LANE

An Indonesian aviation official holds an angle-of-attack sensor shortly after it was recovered from the Lion Air crash last October that killed 189 people aboard an Boeing 737 Max 8. This type of sensor has featured in other airplane accident investigations. MUST CREDIT: Washington Post photo by Timothy McLaughlin.

This aerial image made from video shows recovery work continuing at the scene where the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed shortly after takeoff on Sunday killing all 157 on board, near Bishoftu, south-east of Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia Friday, March 15, 2019. Analysis of the flight recorders has begun in France, the airline said Friday, while in Ethiopia officials started taking DNA samples from victims' family members to assist in identifying remains. (AP Photo/Yidnek Kirubel)

epa07434758 A sign is seen outside the headquarters of the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in Washington, DC, USA, 13 March 2019. The FAA announced the grounding of all Boeing 737 Max aircraft operated by US airlines or in US territories following the crash of Ethopian Airlines flight 302 on 10 March 2019 and the 29 October 2018 Lion Air crash. The order grounds over 70 aircraft, including both the Max 8 and Max 9. EPA-EFE/MICHAEL REYNOLDS

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World

United States & Canada

Boeing has come under global scrutiny along with the US Federal Aviation Administration, the agency that must approve the software fix and new training
Timing for when passenger flights will resume remained uncertain


Boeing is tweaking the system designed to prevent an aerodynamic stall if sensors detect that the plane’s nose is pointed too high.


Plane crashes and aviation accidents

Aviation