The issue which everybody feared is now proven beyond doubt. Malfunctioning software in a safety system proved catastrophic, wresting control of the plane from the pilots and crashing the otherwise normally functioning aircraft. This happened twice. The entire fleet of 737 Max is grounded. Boeing expect all to be airborne again in weeks following a software upgrade.
But is it as straightforward as that? We now know the fitting of heavier engines in this model to make it more fuel efficient has altered the characteristics and balance of the airframe, introducing a serious risk of stalling if the angle of attack, as the climbing angle is called, is too acute. This informs a safety standard well below the level acceptable in a modern aircraft . The remedy was an automatic intervention to pull the nose down to a safe level, which twice, through a fault, put the planes into a dive, killing over 300 people. But the question is now being widely asked among aviation experts, should there be a more fundamental redesign of the airframe? Surely something unsafe which can be ‘fixed’ is not now an acceptable level of safety. Do we not need a design which is safe in the first place even if perhaps a little less efficient?
This question will hover over whatever Boeing does from now on. It will certainly dwell in the minds of regular fliers and will worry airlines about completing their orders for this plane. It will also exercise the many Aviation authorities across the world who will be tasked with granting licences for the 737 Max to return to the air. Because of major evidence of flaws in the efficacy and independence of the emasculated US FAA, its opinion is no longer the gold standard which other similar authorities will be willing to rubber stamp. They will now want to form their own opinion. It may be many months before these planes are again in the sky with passengers. It may also never happen. The 737 Max may be another Comet 1.