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2nd 737 Max Crash Raises Questions For Boeing

· Aviation,Aviation Safety,Aviation Technology

2nd 737 Max Crash Raises Questions For Boeing

With Ethiopian Airlines' crash this weekend, the 2nd involving the newly unveiled 737 Max aircraft model by Boeing, questions are now being asked. The first Boeing 737 Max crash took place in October of last year, less than six months ago. Lion Air flight 610 went down shortly after takeoff into the Java Sea, there were also no survivors and no cause has yet to be determined.

Mary Schiavo, the former Inspector General of the U.S. Transportation Department. "Here we have a brand-new aircraft that's gone down twice in a year. That rings alarm bells in the aviation industry, because that just doesn't happen."

In the United States, we have not suffered a major aviation disaster since 2009's Colgan Airlines crash in Buffalo, New York. So the idea that the world's leading aviation manufacturer has created a "lemon", in today's advanced technological age is rather frightening.

The famous Boeing 747 did not have a major crash in its first decade that wasn't pilot error or terrorism related. In fact over a 50 year span of using the model, commercial aviation only suffered one airplane malfunction that caused a crash, in Japan Airlines' 1985 crash. In that instance the plane lost its rear stabilizer and eventually crashed into a mountain. However, in that crash, many people wonder if Japan Airlines had cut cost on their maintenance budget, and whether that might have been the culprit. As it was in 1992 when the engines fell of an El Al plane due to metal fatigue. In the early 1990's, spiraling fuel prices sent many long-haul airlines including Pan Am into bankruptcy, so the surviving airlines had to cut expenses wherever they could.

What makes these two crashes especially frightening, is that both Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines are well capitalized organizations. Both airlines are profitable and growing and have good safety records. Many American pilots will work for these airlines to get their hourly requirements up, to meet the FAA required 1500 hours to fly for a US commercial airline.

The pilots in both of these crashes were well trained and experienced. The idea that there were two human errors vs a design error is hard to fathom. If the 737 Max has a design flaw, all of the planes will need to be grounded.

Written by the Rebellion Team