Being heavily scrutinized doesn’t make it safest. It just means a lot of people looked at it to make sure it meets minimum specifications. The design itself doesn’t compare safety-wise to more modern airplane designs.

(Written on 2021/01/02)(Permalink)

No. There are four models of different sizes in the 737 MAX series. 737 MAX 7, 737 MAX 8, 737 MAX 9, and 737 MAX 10. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_737

(Written on 2020/11/20)(Permalink)

No. FlightAware only knows where airplanes are because their positions are reported to them. The MH370 mystery wouldn’t happen today. Airplanes over the ocean are datalink equipped and automatically make periodic position reports.

(Written on 2020/09/25)(Permalink)

No certification inspector can has the authority to require more than what is required by law.

(Written on 2020/04/17)(Permalink)

No, I don't agree that the Max will be safer than any other airplane. We'll only know the answer to that question in about thirty years when we have actual statistics. For now I will only agree that it will meet certification standards and be "safe enough". That's all the regulatory agencies ask of any airplane.

(Written on 2020/04/17)(Permalink)

Boeing could not have added fly-by-wire. The changes required to numerous systems would have resulted in an airframe that could no longer be called a 737, and certainly wouldn't have been certified as a common type. When I speak of 1960s design, I'm speaking about a combination of philosophy and practices. The Airbus 320 series was launched in 1984 as a clean-date design using the most modern technology available at the time. The 737 was launched in 1964, but even then was based on earlier Boeing work dating back to the 1950s and carried forward the limitations associated with that philosophy and technology. So yes, the A320 is a much more modern design than the 737, which really ought to have been retired after the NG in favor of a new clean-sheet design.

(Written on 2020/04/17)(Permalink)

Just like the Ford Pinto was the safest car on the road after it received intense scrutiny? The fact is, nothing will ever make the 737 as safe as a modern airliner. It's basic 1960s design lacks the redundancies of its more modern competitors.

(Written on 2020/04/17)(Permalink)

I was only commenting on and disagreeing with the oft heard suggestion that all of the scrutiny this plane is getting will imbue it will some amazing level of safety. I argue that a well built 737 can at best match the safety of modern airliners, because no matter what enhancements Boeing makes, it is still fundamentally a 1960s design (e.g., installing an electric motor in a Ford Falcon won't turn it into a Tesla).

(Written on 2020/03/13)(Permalink)

"After all the focus on the 737 MAX design , it will probably be one of the safest planes to fly..." At its foundation, basic 737 systems are structure are still based on 1960s technology--especially flight controls. It's systems don't have the same level of redundancy as modern airplanes. Its cockpit is designed with 1960s human factors principles. In my opinion, it's wrong to suggest that this airplane will have some amazing level of safety going forward. At best it will have an equivalent level of safety as the rest of the commercial fleet, which received appropriate scrutiny during their design and certification.

(Written on 2020/03/13)(Permalink)

It’s called a trailing cone, and it lets the flight test instrumentation measure static pressure outside of the airplane’s influence. When a new airplane design is flown, the errors in pitot static systems are unknown until they can be measured. These represent the difference between calibrated and indicated. Once the errors are understood, the corrections can be implemented in the air data computers so that the cockpit instruments really do display calibrated airspeed and altitude. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trailing_cone

(Written on 2020/02/14)(Permalink)