Many airlines have followed suit in grounding their entire current fleet of Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, after two crashes in a span of five months may be related to a new technology incorporated in its design. More than 300 passengers and crew perished in the Lion Air crash in Indonesia last October, and the Ethiopian Airlines crash in Addis Ababa this year. Another Boeing 737 MAX was forced to land after encountering engine problems. Officials are now investigating what caused the crashes, centering on one of the aircraft’s technology. The system in question supposedly works to correct the plane’s attitude in case of a danger of stalling. The black box and flight recorder data may help in determining what exactly happened, and if the said system is to blame.
Based on the website of the country’s two major airlines, they do not use Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. I immediately sought to find out if they were currently using it. It has been quite some time since a major grounding of a particular type of aircraft took effect. In today's modern technology, it is hard to imagine accidents such as this still happen. With the designs and technologies used in modern commercial airplanes, apparently they are not enough. Someone told me that because of the complexity of these airplane systems, a little problem may either be addressed by other systems, or have an immediate effect on the aircraft. This may have happened on the 737 MAX.
In the history of the commercial airline industry, the high percentage of safety of this type of travel is due to the lessons learned from previous accidents. Every design, the maintenance of the aircraft as well as the training of the pilots, all have evolved from the investigation of past accidents. The biggest example would be the De Havilland Comet. The initial design had large, square windows to give passengers a good view of the outside. But this led to metal fatigue, particularly at the sharp corners of the windows, leading to a catastrophic failure in flight when the cabin was pressurized. This is why we now have the small windows with rounded corners.
Other accidents involving faulty maintenance led to changes in the period of lubrication of essential gears and hinges, and thorough inspection of engine mounts which should be twice verified. Then of course, the events of 9/11 that would lead to the cockpit door being armored and locked at all times, with only authorized personnel being able to open them. Pilots are no longer allowed to be left alone in the cockpit during flight.
It is hoped that whatever the cause of the two recent crashes would also contribute to the safety of air travel. If the new technology being investigated by authorities is truly to blame, then the engineers should know what to do. I’m certain Boeing would want to address this as soon as possible, in order for the aircraft to continue serving the airlines they belong to, as well as fulfilling the orders of other airlines.