After the first of two Boeing 737 MAX airliner crashes, an FAA analysis found it 'didn’t take that much' for a malfunction like the one confronted by the plane’s pilots
By Andrew Tangel and Andy Pasztor July 31, 2019 5:32 am ET An internal risk analysis after the first of two Boeing 737 MAX airliner crashes showed the likelihood was high of a similar cockpit emergency within months, according to a Federal Aviation Administration official familiar with the details and others briefed on the matter.
Specifically, the FAA’s analysis suggested that a warning to pilots would be enough to provide Boeing about 10 months to design and implement changes to MCAS, according to a person close to the manufacturer. Boeing had been planning to complete the changes by April, within the 10-month period, this person said.
A Boeing spokesman said: “Boeing and the FAA both agreed, based on the results of their respective rigorous safety processes, that the initial action of reinforcing existing pilot procedures…and then the development and fielding of a software update, were the appropriate actions.” The analysis determined that the underlying risks from the MCAS design were unacceptably high without at least some FAA action, that they exceeded internal FAA safety standards and that the likelihood of another emergency or even accident “was over our threshold,” according to the FAA official. “We decided…it was not an acceptable situation,” the official said.
In a report shared with Boeing in late 2018, after the FAA’s directive, the agency said its analysis found the “risk is sufficiently low…until the changes to the system are retrofitted,” according to the person close to the manufacturer.
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