{"id":216931,"date":"2022-02-18T00:36:32","date_gmt":"2022-02-17T22:36:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/ethiopian-airlines-is-flying-737-max-again-here-are-the-lessons-learnt\/"},"modified":"2022-02-18T00:36:32","modified_gmt":"2022-02-17T22:36:32","slug":"ethiopian-airlines-is-flying-737-max-again-here-are-the-lessons-learnt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/ethiopian-airlines-is-flying-737-max-again-here-are-the-lessons-learnt\/","title":{"rendered":"Ethiopian Airlines is flying 737 Max again: here are the lessons learnt"},"content":{"rendered":"
Ethiopian Airlines\u2019 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft crashed on 10 March 2019 killing all 157 people aboard. Mas Agung Wilis\/NurPhoto via<\/span> Getty Images<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ethiopian Airlines has announced<\/a> that it plans to put its Boeing\u2019s 737 Max back to service for the first time since the aircraft model was involved in a crash that claimed 157 lives three years ago. Chrystal Zhang has studied the business models of airlines. We asked her to make sense of the source of Ethiopian Airlines\u2019 confidence<\/em>.<\/p>\n

When, and why was Boeing\u2019s 737 Max grounded?<\/h2>\n

By 12 March 2019, two days after Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 crashed, civil aviation authorities in China, Australia, Britain, France, Germany, Ireland, Malaysia, Mongolia, Oman and Singapore had already grounded the 737 Max. <\/p>\n

This was in addition to airlines in Brazil, South Africa, South Korea, Norway, India, Turkey and other countries. On March 13, 2019, the US Federal Aviation Administration grounded<\/a> the entire 737 Max fleet. <\/p>\n

The decision was made following the fatal crash of Ethiopian Airlines\u2019 302 flight<\/a> enroute from Addis Ababa to Nairobi. The accident killed all 157 passengers and crew members on board. <\/p>\n

This wasn\u2019t the Boeing 737 Max aircraft\u2019s first incident. <\/p>\n

On 29 October 2018 there was a fatal crash<\/a> of a flight operated by Lion Air, an Indonesian low-cost carrier. The airline was enroute from Jarkata to Pangka Pinang and the crash resulted in 189 casualties. <\/p>\n

Two years earlier, in March 2017, the US Federal Aviation Administration had granted an amended-type<\/a> certificate to Boeing for the 737-8 aircraft, the first of the 737 Max family. An amended type certificate approves modification, and how such modification affects the original design. The Max is the fourth generation of the 737 model airplane, and is the successor to the company\u2019s 737 Next Generation family of aircraft.<\/p>\n

The 737 Max was the 12th derivative model of the 737 aircraft, which was first certified half a century earlier in 1967. Two months after the US Federal Aviation certification, the first 737 Max entered<\/a> revenue passenger service with Malindo Air, a Malaysian air carrier. Seventeen months later the 737 Max suffered its first fatal crash.<\/p>\n

Is there a consensus on the cause of the accidents?<\/h2>\n

A study<\/a> has analysed the cause of the 737 Max crashes. The model had a new feature in its flight control computer \u2013 the manoeuvring characteristics augmentation system \u2013 that has become the centre of scrutiny for Max crashes. <\/p>\n

The new system had an ability to trigger flight control movements that challenged the pilots\u2019 command of the aircraft. In addition, the software operated on input from one of the two sensors externally mounted on either side of the aircraft\u2019s fuselage (main body).<\/p>\n

For Ethiopian flight, the system triggered four times as a result of false sensor readings, forcing the airplane into a nose down from which the pilots were unable to recover. Faulty sensor data that erroneously triggered the system to repeatedly activate landing played critical roles in the Max crashes.<\/p>\n

Given significant advances in aviation safety over the last two decades it was extraordinary for two new airplanes, of a new derivative model, to crash within five months of each other.<\/p>\n

While certain facts and circumstances surrounding the accidents differed, a common component in both was the new flight control feature. <\/p>\n

Boeing developed the system to address stability issues in certain flight conditions induced by the plane\u2019s new larger engines and their relative placement on the 737 Max aircraft compared to the engines\u2019 placement on the 737 NG.<\/p>\n

Is Ethiopian Airlines jumping the gun?<\/h2>\n

So far, 13 airlines<\/a> have resumed flying Boeing\u2019s 737 Max. These include The Ryanair Group of Ireland, Air Canada, American Airlines, Alaska Airlines and India-based SpiceJet. <\/p>\n

In the case of Ethiopian airlines, the reasons for resuming<\/a> its flights include:<\/p>\n