May 15, 2019

Pilots 'raised Boeing safety fears' months before Ethiopia crash

American Airlines pilots confronted Boeing about potential safety issues in its 737 Max planes in a meeting last November, US media are reporting. In a closed door meeting with Boeing executives last November, which was secretly recorded, American Airlines' pilots can be heard expressing concerns about the safety of MCAS. Boeing vice-president Mike Sinnett told the pilots: "No one has yet to conclude that the sole cause of this was this function on the airplane." Boeing declined to comment on the November meeting, saying: "We are focused on working with pilots, airlines and global regulators to certify the updates on the Max and provide additional training and education to safely return the planes to flight." American Airlines said it was "Confident that the impending software updates, along with the new training elements Boeing is developing for the Max, will lead to recertification of the aircraft soon." Following the Lion Air crash, Boeing issued additional instructions to pilots in case they faced a malfunction of the MCAS. But in a letter obtained by the AFP news agency, Mr Michaelis said the instructions weren't sufficient to help pilots in the event of malfunction.

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