It has been dubbed “the most discreet transport aircraft in history,” but some critics believe the Boeing 737 Max is still unsafe. Last year, US regulators allowed him to carry passengers again because he was stopped after two major accidents.
However, several potentially serious problems have been reported on 737 Max flights since then. Boeing insists that the plane is safe and reliable. On October 14, the 737 Max took off from Boeing Field Airport in Seattle for Brussels. A delivery flight brought a new plane to work for its owner, the Tui tour group. However, minutes after the 5,000-mile journey, the pilot reported an urgent “flight control problem” and had to return. The plane landed safely shortly after.
The autopilot issue was fixed relatively quickly. The plane took off again for Brussels the next day and had been flying regularly since then.
However, this is not an isolated incident. Suppose American airlines or onboard repair stations detect severe damage, malfunctions, or defects. In that case, they must notify the US regulatory authority, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), through what is known as a “Service Trouble Report.”
Since the 737 Max was restarted, there have been more than 180 such reports.
Most of the faults are found in aircraft that are on the ground. But in 22 cases, it happened during the flight, and in four of them, the pilot declared an emergency.
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The American pilot also declared twice as an emergency due to engine failure. This event does not currently appear in the FAA database but is reported on the Aviation Herald website, listing accidents and incidents in commercial aviation.
Problems arise with the still relatively small US Navy, which had delivered fewer than 160 aircraft by mid-October – some. Which were suspended for several weeks after discovering electrical problems earlier this year.
The Canadian regulator, Transport Canada, also publishes a service issue report. Its database shows that Canada’s fleet of 56,737 Max aircraft generated 19 statements, five of which were related to air accidents.
The 737 Max remains under tight control The plane was grounded for 20 months in March 2019. After participating in two major crashes that killed 346 people.
The flight management software has been modified to fix a fatal bug that occurred in both crashes. In addition, other physical changes were made to the aircraft. It is important to stress that none of the issues reported to the FAA and Transport Canada were directly related to the cause of this crash or to the changes that have occurred since then.
However, they involved problems with several critical systems, including the engine used to adjust the horizontal stabilizer – the tail wing of the aircraft. There was also damage to the engine, flight control system, hydraulics and cables. The tailplane is especially important for keeping the aircraft in controlled flight.