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Boeing, FAA Weigh Software Fix for 737 Max After Lion Air Crash

Boeing, U.S. Regulator Weigh Software Fix on 737 Max After Crash

(Bloomberg) -- Boeing Co. and U.S. aviation regulators are weighing whether to issue a software fix for the 737 Max, the aircraft type involved in a deadly crash in Indonesia last month, to ensure that the plane won’t dive aggressively without pilot commands.

The manufacturer and the Federal Aviation Administration “continue to evaluate the need for software and or other design changes to the aircraft,” the agency said in a statement Tuesday.

Boeing, FAA Weigh Software Fix for 737 Max After Lion Air Crash

A safety feature added to the updated 737 Max, which was designed to prevent pilots from losing control, has been implicated by Indonesian investigators in a Lion Air jet’s sudden dive into the Java Sea after taking off from Jakarta on Oct. 29. The pilots were attempting to deal with several malfunctions when the crash occurred, the investigators said.

All 189 people aboard died in the high-velocity impact.

The FAA and Boeing are also evaluating the need for other upgrades, “including operating procedures and training,” the regulator said in the statement. The FAA on Nov. 7 issued an emergency airworthiness directive ordering U.S. airlines to incorporate information about the feature in their pilot manuals.

U.S. regulators aren’t conducting a safety probe of the Chicago-based planemaker separate from the accident investigation with Indonesian officials, the FAA said, responding to a Wall Street Journal article published Tuesday.

Boeing fell less than 1 percent to $348.83 at 11:44 a.m. in New York, on pace for the fifth consecutive day of declines. The stock had gained 19 percent this year through Tuesday.

Pilot Unions

Two U.S. pilot unions at carriers flying the Max said Monday that Boeing didn’t adequately spell out how the new system worked in training and manuals.

The aerospace giant didn’t respond to a request for comment on the FAA statement. The company said Monday that it was confident in the safety of the 737 Max family of jets, a message echoed Tuesday by Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg.

“The bottom line here is the 737 Max is safe,” he said on Fox Business Network. “This airplane went through thousands of hours of tests and evaluations, certification, working with the pilots, and we’ve been very transparent on providing information and being fully cooperative on the investigative activity.”

While the investigation into the Lion Air crash is far from complete, investigators believe that an erroneous sensor prompted a computerized safety system to aggressively push the jet into a dive, according to Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee. Other factors, such as maintenance on the plane and the pilots’ performance, may also become factors in the accident.

Boeing, FAA Weigh Software Fix for 737 Max After Lion Air Crash

Boeing and the FAA last week issued directives to airlines to alert their pilots that they can resolve such a problem using an existing emergency procedure.

The Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, which was added to the Max to make it less likely that pilots point the plane’s nose so high that the wings lose lift, takes data from sensors and in limited circumstances commands a dive. The software in the computer system that drives the MCAS can be altered without having to redesign components on the plane.

--With assistance from Julie Johnsson.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alan Levin in Washington at alevin24@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jon Morgan at jmorgan97@bloomberg.net, Tony Robinson

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.