Maybe little Greta should take a bus trip to New Delhi and lecture them on climate change eh!

(Written on 04-11-2019)(Permalink)

"What you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul."

(Written on 02-11-2019)(Permalink)

There's nothing wrong with the MCAS, as originally designed and approved by the FAA. It was never intended to have full control of the stabilizer all the way to the nose down limit. And it was not intended to run continuously either. It was supposed to move the stab one time, in a small increment, until reset. Somewhere along the line the code was changed giving it far too much authority, along with the fact that it never should've relied upon a single AOA vane with no comparison monitoring. Boeing did screw the pooch, there's no denying that. But to suggest the whole system should be abandoned is short-sighted and asinine.

(Written on 15-10-2019)(Permalink)

So SWA has over 700 NG airplanes, and yet grounding 2 of those 700 is "terrible" news?! Holy misleading headline Batman!

(Written on 09-10-2019)(Permalink)

Looks like it came unlatched from the bottom. Those latches should be checked by whomever did the walk-around, normally the FO at my company but could be the CA in some cases. To see those latches with the low engines you really have to hunch down and practically lay on the ground. Not saying this crew did but it's easy to get lazy and not look all the way down there. I know I'll be paying closer attention after this eh!

(Written on 30-09-2019)(Permalink)

Ok, there's still some confusion but we're getting closer. You're speaking of the control column trim cutout switches which as you said operate when column movement opposes trim direction. And apparently MCAS is able to bypass this for whatever reason Boeing has not shared with us. This and other reasons are why they certainly share a large portion of fault. The Max also retains the stab brake JetMech mentioned, which physically holds the stab in position, but the why isn't explained in our pilot manuals. As I understand, using the yoke trim switch will disable MCAS when activated and then for 10 seconds after. At least one accident crew was doing this, however they kept releasing it allowing MCAS to reactivate. They also could have used either pedestal cutout switch to disable it, or even grabbed the trim wheel by hand which is a QRH suggested action. Again this is all happening in a confusing environment which was overwhelming the crew(s). Also, at least one crew tried multiple t

(Written on 23-09-2019)(Permalink)

Well, in the immortal words of Mr Johnny Carson, “I did not know that”. I looked and it is in fact in our manual, however not surprisingly there is zero info on how and when it functions. It’s mentioned in concert with manual trim, which leads me to believe it keeps the stab from moving under air loads when elec and AP trim is disabled. Would this be reasonably accurate? So in any case like you said it has no bearing on runaway trim and wouldn’t have been a factor with MCAS anyway.

(Written on 21-09-2019)(Permalink)

Somehow you missed the point of my rant. This is something that should have been investigated and reported soon after the accident(s), not 6 months later when most people have already made up their minds that Boeing is 100% at fault.

(Written on 20-09-2019)(Permalink)

Um, the 737 doesn't have a stabilizer brake. I question your credibility.

(Written on 20-09-2019)(Permalink)

So here we are what, 6 months into the grounding? As we maybe are nearing the end, after Boeing has been beaten like a rented mule (not necessarily undeserved), NOW it's time to address the elephant in the room regarding the pilots' lack of experience and training? Really?! This underscores everything that's wrong with media, esp American media, these days. Run with a narrative for months that only presents one side of a story, then when things have died down and people have already made up their minds quietly present the "other side". Welcome to modern "journalism" eh.

(Written on 18-09-2019)(Permalink)