Boeing Finds New Software Problem That Could Complicate 737 MAX's Return--Update
January 17 2020 - 5:11PM
Dow Jones News
By Andy Pasztor
Boeing Co. said it is grappling with a new software problem
before its 737 MAX aircraft can return to service, one that
industry and government officials said prevents the jet's
flight-control computers from powering up as required prior to
flight.
The glitch, which Boeing said Friday it was working to correct,
is the latest in a string of unexpected technical issues that have
complicated and delayed the grounded fleet's return to the air over
many months -- and now threaten another schedule slip.
A Boeing spokesman said: "We are making necessary updates and
working with the FAA on submission of this change, and keeping our
customers and suppliers informed."
Before the problem was discovered last week, according to people
briefed on the details, the company and the Federal Aviation
Administration were slated to conduct a key certification flight by
the end of January. But at this point, these people said, that date
increasingly looks like it will slip into at least February.
The length of the delay will largely depend on how long it takes
Boeing engineers to resolve and then verify that the specific
problem has been eliminated, though coordination with international
regulators and other factors could complicate the process.
The problem occurred as engineers were loading updated software
-- including an array of changes painstakingly developed over
roughly a year -- into the flight-control computers of a test
aircraft, one of these people said. A software function intended to
monitor the power-up process didn't operate correctly, according to
this person, resulting in the entire computer system crashing.
Previously, proposed software fixes had been tested primarily in
ground-based simulators, where no power-up problems arose, this
person said.
The revised software is intended to fix an automated
flight-control system called MCAS that led to two crashes, in 2018
and 2019, that killed a total of 346 people. The system, new on the
MAX, misfired in a way that repeatedly and forcefully pushed the
planes' noses down, overpowering pilot commands and ending in fatal
dives. The company has been developing revised software intended to
make the software less prone to such misfires and easier for pilots
to counteract.
Boeing also has increased redundancy by having the plane's dual
flight-control computers operate throughout each flight, a change
that industry and government officials said has entailed more
software changes than Boeing initially anticipated
It isn't clear how much of a delay the problematic software
could create, since various other regulatory steps including
finalizing pilot-training requirements remain in limbo.
U.S. carriers already have pulled MAX jets from their schedules
through early June, though industry and government officials
project that the planes could start making demonstration flights
with airline executives on board weeks before that. The MAX fleet
was grounded in March, not long after the second fatal crash.
FAA and Boeing officials were in the midst of analyzing
prospects for the latest software revisions when Steve Dickson, the
agency's administrator, met with newly installed Boeing chief Dave
Calhoun early this week. Neither government nor Boeing officials
have commented on that session.
In addition to completion of the software fixes, the MAX's
return to service is subject to test flights by a representative
group of international airline pilots, along with public comments
on the details of extra training for cockpit crews. The FAA also
has to approve changes to operating and training manuals, endorse
revised emergency procedures and sign off on maintenance and
inspections of planes that have been in storage, some for many
months. Numerous foreign regulators have signaled they won't
approve resumption of passenger flights until their own engineering
and pilot-training reviews are finished.
Nevertheless, the coming certification flight is widely
considered the next major step to ease the MAX crisis, which has
cost Boeing and the global airline industry billions of dollars and
disrupted flight schedules around the world. If resolving the most
recent software errors takes longer than a few weeks, the MAX's
overall return to service timeline could take another significant
hit.
Write to Andy Pasztor at andy.pasztor@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 17, 2020 16:56 ET (21:56 GMT)
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