FOLLOWING the preliminary
report of the Ethiopian
Airlines accident
investigation, Boeing’s
ceo, Dennis Muilenburg,
has admitted that, in the
cases of both Ethiopian
Airlines Flight 302 and Lion
Air Flight 610, it appears
that the B737 MAX 8
Manoeuvring Characteristics
Augmentation System
(MCAS) activated in
response to erroneous angle
of attack information from
the system.
For some, this
acknowledgement appears
to have come too late
but, as an industry expert
explained to TNW, the
world’s reaction to ET302
has been unprecedented.
“In previous instances,
airlines, aircraft
manufacturers and civil
aviation authorities have
reacted to crashes only
on the basis of scientific
evidence and fact. In the
immediate aftermath of the
ET302 crash, more than
300 B737 MAX 8 aircraft
were grounded in response
to public sentiment and
social media sentiment,
before the US FAA was
instructed to withdraw the
aircraft’s certification. This
has never happened before.”
Boeing’s share value has
already taken a knock since
the Ethiopian Airlines crash,
dropping from US$422,54
per share on March 9 to
US$374,52 on April 8.
Boeing’s ceo says he still
remains confident in the
aircraft, however, adding
that when the MAX returns
“it will be among the safest
airplanes ever to fly”.
The preliminary crash
report has provided
Ethiopian Airlines with some
vindication. The airline says
the report clearly shows the
pilots who were commanding
Flight ET302 followed the
Boeing-recommended and
FAA-approved emergency
procedures, but could not
recover the aircraft from
nosediving.
Tewolde GebreMariam, ceo
of Ethiopian Airlines, told
Bloomberg that the airline
would need to convince both
pilots and customers of the
safety of the B737 MAX 8
before resuming use.
In South Africa, Comair
was the only airline to have
taken delivery of a Boeing
737 MAX 8. Recently,
Wrenelle Stander, executive
director of Comair’s airline
division, told media that it
had self-grounded its first
aircraft, deferred delivery
of the second and had
requested deferment of the
pre-delivery payments for
the third aircraft. “We have
a board meeting in July and
will see what the thoughts of
the board are then,” added
Wrenelle.
Ethiopian Airlines is also
reconsidering taking delivery
of its remaining 25 ordered
MAX aircraft.
Boeing is facing a growing
number of lawsuits following
the two crashes. TNW
understands that Boeing
has now announced a 20%
reduction in B737 MAX 8
production. This may result
in further delays in aircraft
delivery.
