Boeing 737 Max planes are grounded after a hole blew in one mid-flight::The FAA ordered that 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 planes be inspected before they can return to service following the explosive decompression of an Alaska Airlines flight.

  • Deebster@programming.dev
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    70
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    2 years ago

    Their fixes don’t seem to have altered the fundamental problems with the Boeing 737 Max:

    • the new engines are too big for the frame, so they’ve had to move them up and forward, which makes the plane pitch up at high thrust (which is what the now infamous MCAS attempted to mask with software)
    • Boeing self-certified it as safe, claiming that it was a small, incremental change and so didn’t need testing or additional pilot training
    • Boeing rushed out an unsafe design because they were scared of losing money to Airbus’s A320neo

    I have to fly several times a year and try to choose Airbus over Boeing whenever possible, and I flat out refuse to fly on the 737 Max. This news certainly doesn’t make me feel like I was overreacting.

    • WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      49
      ·
      edit-2
      2 years ago

      Boeing killed over 600 346 people after continuously lying to regulators and airlines around the world for like 2+ years. Most of the senior leadership and upper management — everyone who knew about the fraud and deception — should be serving life sentences. Instead they suffered minor financial damages and the CEO got a golden handshake.

      Just another reminder that we all live in capitalist kleptocracies masquerading as democracies.

    • poopkins@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      20
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      2 years ago

      I find it difficult to know if my flight will avoid 737 Max, so I’ve been avoiding airlines that have them in their fleet. Unfortunately, British Airways recently rebooked me onto an Alaska Airlines, and sure enough, it was a Max 8. Sometimes you just can’t win.

      • Rentlar@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        2 years ago

        Most of Canada’s airlines’ domestic commuter fleet use 737 Max 8s. The best option would be to pick Porter Airlines if you were deadset on not getting 737s.

  • fastandcurious@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    22
    ·
    2 years ago

    The incident seems much more serious than an isolated case of a doorplug falling off, I wonder if they are hiding something, another design flaw maybe?

    • circuscritic@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      23
      ·
      2 years ago

      My assumption is that the 737 Max is simply a fundamentally unsafe and unsound design.

      I’m sure within 15 years they’ll complete the final retrofit to make it safe and sound, and in the end, it will end up costing 300% of what a new design would have.

      But, it’ll actually work out for Boeing executives and shareholders, so it will be taught to future MBA student as a success story about the heroic and stoic leadership that generated record profits for the low cost of a few hundred lives.

    • AlexWIWA@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      8
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      2 years ago

      I don’t even think it was a door. I watched a video of it on TikTok and it looked like a regular row of seats. I think it was just a piece of the hull.

      Have they stated what fell off yet? I can’t imagine how scary that was.

      • circuscritic@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        21
        ·
        edit-2
        2 years ago

        Door plug means that it’s a spot in the frame where a future door can be installed by removing the “plug”. In the meantime, it just looks like a piece of the fuselage. The plug is what got ripped out midair.

      • PorradaVFR@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        8
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        2 years ago

        I heard it was one of those emergency exit panels (not a full door, nor just a passenger window) but that could be inaccurate. Either way, not a good look for Boeing.

  • SirSamuel@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    7
    ·
    2 years ago

    Time to buy some Boeing stock, cause the US govt won’t let their defense dept darling fail

  • kingthrillgore@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    5
    ·
    2 years ago

    Can someone explain to me why they just give up on this frankenjet and build off the safer (at the moment) 777?

    • GhostTheToast@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      2 years ago

      Talk out my ass here, but I thought it was due to the economics. Companies only want to buy the 737s because it’s a fairly known factor. Pilots don’t need to be retrained and, at this point, can be produced cheaper and/or faster.

  • brygphilomena@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    2 years ago

    I’m interested to learn what changes were made to the 737 max fuselage compared to earlier versions of the 737.