Modern aircraft are less stable. Cutting the size of big tail surfaces saves weight and drag. Military aircraft stability has got to the point that a human pilot cannot fly them without the computer and civil is following behind. The snag is that military aircraft have ejector seats
Modern aircraft are less stable. Cutting the size of big tail surfaces saves weight and drag. Military aircraft stability has got to the point that a human pilot cannot fly them without the computer and civil is following behind. The snag is that military aircraft have ejector seats
My sympathies and condolences.I had a colleague on that second plane. I really hope that Boeing get the hell sued out of them for their arrogance and penny pinching, and that the FAA get grilled mercilessly to expose how they came to abdicate their responsibility to protect the public.
Boeing must be getting close to the toxic brand point that killed Comet. Even supposedly fixed by software, a lot of passengers are going to avoid flying on 737 MAX
It is only this model, but they have sold 5000 of them. Lawsuits for years
I think we're getting a bit carried away now. There are no suggestions any other Boeings have safety issues (though the LiIon battery issues on the 787 were quite worrying for a while).
It's a big company and i didn't know him very well, but it does make you sit up and think about certain forms of mortality.
AIUI, Boeing got scared when Airbus secured a large American Airlines order with its 320 Neo. They had initially wanted to design a new plane, but realised they didn't have time to do that anymore and would have to "upgrade" the 737 frame (yet again). The latest, most efficient engines are bigger, and the undercarriage on the 737 is a 1960s design when engines were half the size. A bigger undercarriage would mean redesigned wings, etc. etc, so somebody just moved the engines forward so they could be placed further up in front of the wing, which probably did various bad things to airflow, center of thrust versus center of lift, etc. "Fixed" by adding a piece of software to override the poor pilots. Voilà, improved 737. 5000 sold, coming to an airline near you.
After they'd fixed the fatigue problem...FWIW, Dan-Air were flying Comets into the 80s and RAF later still