Alan Levin and Ryan Beene: Boeing Pilot Expressed Worries About 737 Max Safety in 2016 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-18/faa-says-boeing-was-tardy-in-turning-over-737-max-evidence?srnd=premium: "FAA chief, in letter, demands explanation from planemaker. Pilots were alarmed by performance of MCAS feature on jet: The November 2016 instant messages, which were reviewed by Bloomberg News, were exchanges between Mark Forkner, then Boeing’s chief technical pilot for the 737, and another 737 technical pilot, Patrik Gustavsson. In the messages, Forkner described his alarm at simulator tests in which he encountered troubling behavior of the automated flight control system implicated in the two fatal crashes. Boeing had earlier assured the aviation regulator that the feature known as Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System was benign and didn’t need to be included in the plane’s flight manuals, according to a person familiar with the issue. Forkner told Gustavsson that MCAS was 'running rampant in the sim on me', referring to simulator tests of the aircraft. Forkner expressed concern that he may have unknowingly misled the FAA. 'So I basically lied to the regulators (unknowingly)', he wrote.... 'I’m levelling [sic] off at like 4000 ft, 230 knots and the plane is trimming itself like craxy [sic]', Forkner said. 'I’m like, WHAT?'... After Forkner said he was concerned about misleading regulators, Gustavsson replied that 'it wasn’t a lie, no one told us that was the case'. 'I don’t know, the test pilots have kept us out of the loop', Gustavsson said. Forkner replied, 'they’re all so damn busy, and getting pressure from the program'...
#noted #2019-10-18
