Flights can be an unpleasant experience for nervous fliers who worry about the chance of plane crashes. Two major aviation disasters have taken place in the last year – and the Boeing 737 Max aircraft has been involved in both. On 29 October 2018, a Lion Air plane crashed 13 minutes after take-off from Jakarta, Indonesia killing 189 people. Then, on 10 March 2019, an Ethiopian Airlines aircraft crashed in Ethiopia, claiming the lives of all 157 people on board and taking the 737 Max death toll to 346.
The Boeing 737 Max was taken out of service following the two tragedies to investigate the aircraft model.
The US company announced yesterday the 737 Max will soon be ready to take to the skies once more.
A statement read: “Boeing has made significant progress over the past several months in support of safely returning the 737 MAX to service as the company continues to work with the FAA and other global regulators on the process laid out for certifying the 737 MAX software and related training updates.
“The company has also made significant governance and operational changes to further sharpen its focus.”
Boeing has said it is working with regulators to return the jet to service and expects planes to take off again before the beginning of 2020, reported the BBC.
The firm has made changes to software updates after a report highlighted issues with the MCAS (Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System), which was designed to make the aircraft easier to fly.
Evidence suggested that the MCAS repeatedly pushed the nose of the jet down on both of the doomed flights, driven by incorrect Angle of Attack (AoA) data from a defective sensor – although Boeing refute this, suggesting the system was just one of the contributing factors in a “chain of events” that lead to the disasters.
Boeing said in their latest statement: “We updated the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) on the MAX by adding three additional layers of protection that will prevent accidents like these from ever happening again.”
They have also conducted more than 800 test and production flights with the updated software.
“We continue to make steady progress in safely returning the 737 Max to service,” said Boeing boss Dennis Muilenburg.
“Our Boeing teams are unwavering in their commitment to our customers and our values, and the changes we’re implementing now will further strengthen our approach to safety across our company and the aerospace community.”
Passengers can check what aircraft they are due to fly on ahead of their flight.
Travellers can use a free tool by SeatGuru to identify the aircraft mode they will be flying with.
You’ll need to input the airline you’re flying with, the date you’re travelling on and the flight number if you know it. If you don’t you’ll need your departure airport and destination instead.
However, fliers should be aware that airlines sometimes changes the aircraft for operational reasons.
Earlier this month, it emerged Ryanair and other airlines were ordered to carry out emergency checks on a number of its aircraft after cracks were found on certain Boeing 737 NG models in the USA.