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Every hour, every day, every week, all month long, 24/365, nonstop around the clock.
Pretty darn good.
I'm more concerned about airline maintenance, given the recent stories. Airlines are piling on the current Boeing hate, but why would a wheel fall off a plane that's been in service long enough to have its wheels and tires inspected, and its tires replaced -- by the airline, not Boeing?
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Bit of a revisonist history there. MacD was the struggling company. Boeing bougt them to 'balance' their cyclic commercial airline business with MacD's stable defense business. The 'blame' is Boeing's for not identfying the best people for ANY job - much less top management.
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Boeing's 737 Max Software Outsourced to $9-an-Hour Engineers
It remains the mystery at the heart of Boeing Co.’s 737 Max crisis: how a company renowned for meticulous design made seemingly basic software mistakes leading to a pair of deadly crashes. Longtime Boeing engineers say the effort was complicated by a push to outsource work to lower-paid contractors.
The Max software?plagued by issues that could keep the planes grounded months longer after U.S. regulators this week revealed a new flaw?was developed at a time Boeing was laying off experienced engineers and pressing suppliers to cut costs.
Increasingly, the iconic American planemaker and its subcontractors have relied on temporary workers making as little as $9 an hour to develop and test software, often from countries lacking a deep background in aerospace?notably India.
In offices across from Seattle’s Boeing Field, recent college graduates employed by the Indian software developer HCL Technologies Ltd. occupied several rows of desks, said Mark Rabin, a former Boeing software engineer who worked in a flight-test group that supported the Max.
The coders from HCL were typically designing to specifications set by Boeing. Still, “it was controversial because it was far less efficient than Boeing engineers just writing the code,” Rabin said. Frequently, he recalled, “it took many rounds going back and forth because the code was not done correctly.”
A mishap with a cockpit seat may have thrust the pilot into the controls of a Boeing Co. 787 plane flying to New Zealand this week, triggering the sudden plunge that injured 50 passengers, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing US officials familiar with the investigation.
A flight attendant serving a meal on the Latam flight hit a switch on the seat, propelling the pilot forward and pushing down the aircraft’s nose, the newspaper said. According to the report, the switch is fitted with a cover and isn’t meant to be pressed if a person is in the seat.
The plane was on its way to Auckland from Sydney on Monday when it suddenly lost altitude. Multiple media reports have described how the incident sent passengers, including at least one baby, flying into the ceiling of the cabin. While no one was seriously injured, seven passengers and three crew members were taken to the hospital after the flight landed in Auckland.
Boeing told the WSJ that it’s in contact with Latam Airlines Group SA and is on hand to help the investigation. The US planemaker may issue a memo about the seat switch to airlines flying the popular 787 Dreamliner, the newspaper said.
Boeing currently faces scrutiny for separate safety lapses after the Jan. 5 blowout of a door plug on a 737 MAX 9 operated by Alaska Airlines shortly after takeoff. No one was injured and the plane landed safely.
US regulators last month gave the company 90 days to devise a plan to fix what it called “systemic” quality-control issues, while the Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into the Alaska Air incident. Accident investigators say they remain in the dark about who performed the work on the panel that failed in January, despite high-level pleas being made to Boeing and interviews with people at the factory where the work was performed.
Latam has described the midair plunge as a “technical event during the flight, which caused a strong movement.”
Two investigators from Chile’s civil aviation agency arrived in New Zealand on Wednesday to lead the probe, the WSJ said. The newspaper cited US industry officials who had been briefed on initial evidence.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
United flight from SFO missing external panel after landing in Oregon
The incident involving United Airlines flight 433 is the latest in a string of recent mechanical problems on United airplanes
By Kristofer Noceda • Published 49 mins ago • Updated 2 mins ago
A United Airlines plane that departed Friday from San Francisco International Airport was missing an external panel when it landed at its destination in Medford, Oregon.
A United Airlines plane that departed Friday from San Francisco International Airport was missing an external panel when it landed at its destination in Medford, Oregon.
United released the following statement: "This afternoon, United flight 433 landed safely at its scheduled destination at Rogue Valley International/Medford Airport. After the aircraft was parked at the gate, it was discovered to be missing an external panel. We’ll conduct a thorough examination of the plane and perform all the needed repairs before it returns to service. We’ll also conduct an investigation to better understand how this damage occurred."United said the Boeing 737-800 had 139 passengers onboard the plane, with six crew members. The plane also did not declare an emergency while en route to Medford "as there was no indication of the damage during the flight," United said.
The incident involving United Airlines flight 433 is the latest in a string of recent mechanical problems on United airplanes.
On Thursday, United Airlines flight 1816 took off from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport at 5:30 a.m. Just before landing in SFO at 7:30 a.m. local time, the United Airbus experienced a hydraulic leak. It was able to land safely, according to officials.
On Mar. 7, a Japan-bound United flight out of SFO was diverted to Los Angeles after a wheel fell off during takeoff.
Then on Mar. 8, in passengers had to be evacuated from a United Airlines plane in Houston after it rolled off a runway during landing and got stuck in the grass.
Also on Mar. 8, a United flight to Mexico City from SFO was diverted to LAX because of a hydraulics issue.
Last Monday, a United flight headed to SFO from Sydney, Australia had to turn around midflight after fluid was seen spewing out from the right rear landing gear.
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Well here's one for you right out of the movie 'Airplane' when the blowup automatic pilot deflated...
After 787 dive, Boeing alerts airlines to issue with pilot-seat switches The alert was issued after a 787 flown by the Chilean carrier LATAM went into a terrifying dive, injuring dozens of passengers
The LATAM Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane that suddenly lost altitude midflight sits on the tarmac at Auckland International Airport in New Zealand. (Brett Phibbs/AFP/Getty Images)
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Boeing alerted airlines to a potential problem with loose switches on the pilot seats of its 787 Dreamliner jets after one of the planes went into a dive this week on a flight from Australia to New Zealand that injured 50 people.
The jets have a switch on the back of the pilot seats that can be used to move the seats forward and backward. Were the switch to get stuck while someone was sitting in the seat, it could press their body against the plane’s controls. In a bulletin to airlines, Boeing said that if part of the switch is loose, a cover over the top can cause it to jam, “resulting in unintended seat movement.”
The bulletin does not refer to the dive incident, which authorities are in the early stages of investigating.
Boeing said in a statement Friday that it was reminding airlines of a 2017 service bulletin addressing an issue with the switches that included instructions for inspections and maintenance.
“We are recommending operators perform an inspection at the next maintenance opportunity,” Boeing said in a statement.
The issue is the latest safety concern for Boeing as the company is under heightened scrutiny from travelers and regulators following a midair blowout on an Alaska Airlines 737 Max in January. The Federal Aviation Administration said it had assembled a panel to review Boeing’s response.
It was not immediately clear how many 787 aircraft were affected by the seat switch issue. But the bulletin, obtained by The Washington Post, was sent to all operators of the aircraft. It instructs operators to carefully inspect a cap on the switches to ensure they have not come loose.
The plane that went into a dive was operated by the Chilean carrier LATAM and was traveling between Sydney and Auckland, New Zealand, on Monday. Passengers have described a sudden dive that threw people to the plane’s ceiling before they were dropped back down again. The plane continued on to Auckland. Ten passengers and three crew members were taken to a medical center, LATAM said.
The incident is under investigation by Chile’s aviation agency, but it has released few details about its probe. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment. LATAM said it was continuing to support the investigation.
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The aviation news site the Air Current and the Wall Street Journal reported this week that investigators suspected that one of the plane’s pilots had been pushed forward into the controls by his seat.
American Airlines sent a notice to its 787 pilots Friday saying it had identified a “potential hazard” with the switches and that maintenance teams were taking steps to ensure they were “properly secured.” In the meantime, American told captains they should brief anyone on the flight deck that the switch should not be used while someone is sitting in the seat.
The FAA said in a statement that its review board will examine a message Boeing is proposing to send to operators as well as the 2017 bulletin.
John Cox, a former pilot and aviation safety expert, said his first question would be whether there has been a fleet history of this switch sticking or if this is the first time this has happened on the 787.
“If there hasn’t, then it’s a one-off,” he said. “But if it’s happened before, then corrective action needs to be taken.”
Boeing has been buffeted by a steady stream of bad news since the Alaska Airlines incident, which prompted the FAA to launch an investigation into the company’s manufacturing operations. An agency audit found a number of areas that Boeing needed to improve, and regulators gave the company three months to develop a plan to correct any problems.
Much of the recent scrutiny has focused on the 737 Max, a widely used single-aisle airliner. Five years ago, two 737 Max planes crashed within five months of each other, killing a total of 346 people, due to a design change in the jets’ software.
The 787 is a larger aircraft, used mainly on long-distance international routes.
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AIRLINES United Airlines CEO tries to reassure customers after string of flight problems PUBLISHED MON, MAR 18 20248:00 AM EDTUPDATED 3 HOURS AGO
KEY POINTS
United Airlines flights have suffered a series of problems in recent weeks.
A tire fell off a Boeing 777 after takeoff from San Francisco, and, in a separate incident, a missing panel was discovered after a flight landed in Oregon.
United’s CEO told customers that the incidents were unrelated but the airline will incorporate the findings into training and procedures.
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby speaking in Chicago on June 5, 2019. Kamil Krzaczynski | Reuters
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby on Monday sought to reassure customers about the carrier’s safety after a series of flight problems in recent weeks.
In one incident this month, a tire fell from one of the carrier’s Japan-bound Boeing 777s shortly after takeoff, damaging cars in a San Francisco airport parking lot. In another, a missing panel from the plane was discovered after the older Boeing 737 landed in Oregon on Friday.
“Safety is our highest priority and is at the center of everything we do,” Kirby said in an email to customers. “Unfortunately, in the past few weeks, our airline has experienced a number of incidents that are reminders of the importance of safety.”
Kirby said the incidents, which the Federal Aviation Administration is investigating, were “all unrelated” but that the team is reviewing the details “and using those insights to inform our safety training and procedures across all employee groups.”
The string of recent mishaps occurred during heightened scrutiny of the aviation industry after a door plug panel blew off an Alaska Airlines’ nearly new Boeing 737 Max 9 on Jan. 5.
A United Airlines plane. Source: NBC Houston KPRC2+
On March 8, a United 737 Max plane rolled off a Houston runway. On March 4, a United Boeing 737 that was heading to Florida from Houston returned to the airport after the engine ingested plastic bubble wrap, with video on social media showing flames coming out of the engine.
United’s CEO said the airline had already planned to implement changes such as “an extra day of in-person training for all pilots starting in May and a centralized training curriculum for our new-hire maintenance technicians.”
“You can be confident that every time a United plane pulls away from the gate, everyone on our team is working together to keep you safe on your trip,” Kirby wrote.
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