Reported By:
| Edited By: DNA |Source: DNA |Updated: Mar 14, 2019, 07:05 AM IST
The world of aviation is in the throes of a crisis. The crash of Boeing 737 MAX in Ethiopia this week that claimed 157 lives, would probably have been treated as an accident, albeit a horrible one.
Tragically, it came at the back of a Lion Air crash of the same make six months ago in Indonesia and experts believe the coincidences are too good to be true. With many countries banning the MAX series as a precautionary measure — from Australia to Mongolia and from South Africa to Argentina — experts are baying for Boeing’s blood.
There are demands now that the MAX 737 needs to be grounded. Also under fire is US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), which is being accused of backing Boeing, an American enterprise, against better judgement and safety best practices.
Experts have pointed out that the Boeing hint of improper handling of the Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) — an anti-stall software, installed by the company designed to automatically push the nose down under certain conditions, is fallacious.
In other words, it suggests a “pilot error”, which is flawed and takes away from the inherent weaknesses of this particular model. But any aviation dogfight between Boeing and the others (read Airbus) assumes an inter-continental tiff between Europe and America.
Aviation specialists are then naturally divided on the next course of action. Some specialists believe there is nothing to fear about Boeing’s new plane — certainly not beyond the normal risks of flying. They also say that Boeing, since the Lion Air crash of last October, has issued a safety bulletin to alert pilots of the risk and proper response, which may be a tacit admission of responsibility.
Whatever the outcome, the aviation world has scarcely been at the horns of such a dilemma. Discarding aircraft, apparently, is harder than snapping ties with recalcitrant neighbouring countries.
