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This generation of 737 seems cursed. The MCAS scandal (and it was a scandal), just before the new year there were warnings to operators to check for loose nuts and now this.
Boeing are not having a good time.
There never should have been a “this generation” of 737, at least not how it was designed. It basically should have been an entirely new designation but they kept trying to shoehorn upgrades into it so pilots wouldn’t have to get recertified.
I entirely agree, But I also kinda understand it. Without the new engines they could not compete with the A32x product line. But they wouldn't fit without the tricks they pulled. It should have been a new airframe designed to take those engines.
That re-design and certification would take too long though, and they'd lose huge market share to airbus.
Now, I say I understand their actions, this does not mean I agree with them!
Well, that's on Boeing as well. They slacked off in the R&D department for too long and allowed Airbus to one-up them. Then they tried some convoluted way to play catch up and failed epically...
You'd think they'd take a page from American auto makers in the 1970s. They were king through the 60s and Japanese was economical trash that had no place on our open roads. Then the gas crisis crushed land yacht sales, Japan had more cash flow from their little cars, and they made their cars way more competitive in the US market. Meanwhile, US manufacturers just sat at the bar in their varsity jackets saying they're not worried.
It also minimizes tooling costs.
They exist solely to increase shareholder value. Planes are just a method for doing so. Now the corner cutting is showing consequences.
It's almost like the 737 was obsolete decades ago and Boeing chose to zombify its corpse instead of lay it to rest and develop a better narrow body!
Look up documentaries about Boeing and their culture after the MD merger.
Ironically enough MD covered up a fatal door blowout risk in the DC-10 which killed hundreds of people. We don't yet know if this current incident was actually caused by a design fault, but the DC-10 door accident definitely was.
The plane experienced a fuselage failure where the door blew out and was delivered something like two months ago.
This fuselage failure actually happened where a door could be in the future. These locations are called plugs, if an airliner decides to add the door at some point in the future the plug is removed and a door is added in its place. In this instance the plug was more of a cork and popped upon pressurization.
The plug was more of a screw top. It's a plug in function, not in installation. Boeing probably deserves a lot of shit for this in it's pile of cost-cutting Max approval schemes but let's be accurate
Finally the FAA has shown some initiative
The current FAA administrator was appointed by Biden.
Guess who the last MAX 9 embarrassment took place under, their political affiliation, and which president appointed them.
That’s not supposed to happen.
The side fell off.
Well, the hidden door blew out.
This is what happens when you let the financial dicks push out the engineering dicks. Plain and simple.
The timing with the MAX 7 exemption request is special.