ZCZC
BFF-01
INDONESIA-US-AVIATION-AEROSPACE
Indonesia blames 737 MAX design for Lion Air crash: report
NEW YORK, Sept 23, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Indonesian authorities have cited
failures in the Boeing 737 MAX design and oversight as contributing to the
2018 Lion Air plane crash, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.
The report into the crash, which will be formally released in early
November, also blames pilot error and maintenance issues for the crash that
killed 189 people shortly after the flight departed from Jakarta last
October, the newspaper said.
The Boeing plane model was later grounded worldwide after an Ethiopian
Airlines 737 MAX crashed after taking off from Addis Ababa in March, killing
157 people.
Preliminary investigations into both accidents have implicated the MCAS
anti-stall system, designed specifically for the 737 MAX.
Indonesian investigators could still change their findings, which have
been shared with the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National
Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Wall Street Journal says.
US officials are scheduled to visit Indonesia at the end of September to
discuss the report, in which Indonesian investigators list some 100 factors
in the crash.
While the NTSB is unlikely to object to the findings, Boeing and the FAA
are worried that the report “will unduly emphasize design and FAA
certification missteps,” the newspaper reported, citing unnamed sources
familiar with the matter.
“Boeing continues to support the investigation as the accident report is
being completed,” a spokesman for the company told AFP.
The FAA and NTSB declined to comment, referring questions to the
Indonesian authorities.
The NTSB is preparing to announce “around the end of the month”
recommendations to improve pilot and crew training, and to the FAA’s
certification process for new airplane models, according to the newspaper.
A panel of international regulators set up by the FAA is also expected in
the coming weeks to submit a report critical of the relationship between
Boeing and the agency.
New FAA head Steve Dickson is to meet with his international counterparts
on Monday ahead of an International Civil Aviation Organization meeting in
Montreal to discuss Boeing’s proposed changes to the 737 MAX and its eventual
return to service.
BSS/AFP/MSY/0851 hrs