US Congress seeks answers on Boeing 737 Max 8 approval

US Congress held hearings Wednesday on the FAA's oversight and approval process of the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft. The Max 8 was the type of plane involved in the deadly crashes of Lion Air Flight 610 in October and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 earlier this month. Acting FAA Administrator Daniel Elwell pledged a thorough review of the facts and safety measures before the grounded Boeing 737 Max takes flight again.

美國國會參議院27日舉行鍼對美國聯邦航空局(FAA)評估認證波音737 MAX過程涉及問題聽證會。聯邦航空局代理局長丹尼爾·埃爾韋爾（Daniel Elwell）出席聽證並作出承諾，會在波音737 Max復飛之前對其安全措施進行全面審查。

Acting administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Daniel Elwell testifies during a Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Aviation and Space hearing about the current state of airline safety in the Hart Senate Office Building, March 27, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photos: VCG)

At nearly three hours of hearings, the senators questioned various aspects of the 737MAX air crashes, one of which was the FAA's weak regulation of Boeing. Before the Boeing 737MAX aircraft entered the market, the FAA outsourced a large number of safety certifications to Boeing itself, and after two air crashes of the aircraft, the agency’s flight bounding decision was later than most other aviation regulations in the world.

在將近3個小時的聽證會上，參議員們就737 MAX空難涉及的各個方面進行了質詢，其中一個焦點是聯邦航空局對波音的監管不力問題。在波音737 MAX客機上市前，聯邦航空局將大量安全認證工作外包給了波音自己完成, 而在該型號飛機兩次出現空難後，該機構的停飛決定又晚於世界上大多數其他航空監管機構。

When asked about the cooperative relationship between FAA and Boeing regarding safety certification, Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao said that while the relationship is necessary, she was "concerned about any allegations of coziness."

"The FAA is the one that certifies," Chao said. "The FAA does not build planes. They certify. But this method of having the manufacturer also be involved in looking at these standards is really necessary because once again the FAA cannot do it on their own."

In addition, Chao defended the decision of the FAA not to ground Boeing's signature plane after the first of two fatal crashes. "The FAA is a very professional, fact-based organization, and they don't make decisions that are too hasty," she said.

當日，美國交通部長趙小蘭在另一聽證會上表示，由飛機製造商參與新機型評估認證是“必需的”，因爲FAA不製造飛機，它自己不可能獨立完成評估工作。對於FAA和飛機製造商存在“過於密切關係”的指控，趙小蘭稱“表示關切”。

此外，她也爲FAA拖延禁飛的決定做出辯護，認爲 “美國聯邦航空局是非常專業、且尊重事實的組織，他們不會做出太倉促的決定”。

Elaine Chao, US secretary of transportation, speaks during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing in Washington, D.C., US, on Wednesday, March 27, 2019.

However，the Department of Transportation's inspector general told senators on Wednesday that the agency's actions in response to the fatal crashes of Boeing's 737 Max aircraft had "shaken" confidence in the Federal Aviation Administration. "Clearly confidence in the FAA as the gold standard in aviation safety has been shaken," Calvin Scovel, Inspector General of the US Department of Transportation, said during the Senate hearing.

儘管如此，美國交通部督察長卡爾文·斯科韋爾(Calvin Scovel)稱，FAA針對波音公司737 Max空難的應對行爲已經“動搖了”公衆對聯邦航空局的信心。斯科韋爾在參議院聽證會上說：“人們對美國聯邦航空局作爲航空安全黃金標準的信心已經有所動搖。”

Calvin Scovel, Inspector General of the Transportation Department testifies to the Senate Commerce subcommittee on aviation safety after two fatal Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft crashes, on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, March 27, 2019.

The Transportation Department is now investigating how the FAA certified the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft and approved the MCAS system. MCAS has come under scrutiny as a possible factor in the two fatal crashes.

Members specifically pressed for answers about the FAA's approval of Boeing's MCAS anti-stall safety system. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao testified before another Senate panel that she found it "troubling" that safety systems were not part of the standard package offered by Boeing on its 737 Max jets.

交通部門正在調查美國聯邦航空局是如何認證波音737 Max 8飛機並批准了自動防失速的機動特性增強系統(MCAS)，而MCAS已成爲兩起致命事故的可能因素。於是，聽證會上的議員們特別對FAA批准波音公司的MCAS提出了詳細質詢。包括趙小蘭部長也指出，安全系統的操作指南並沒有出現在波音公司737 Max噴氣式飛機提供的標準指南里，這一點“令人困擾”。

A Boeing 737 MAX sits outside the hangar during a media tour of the Boeing 737 MAX at the Boeing plant in Renton, Washington December 8, 2015.

Boeing and the FAA decided pilots did not need to be informed about the change to the flight control system when the 737 Max 8 rolled out, helping airlines avoid the cost of more extensive retraining of pilots. FAA Acting Administrator Dan Elwell said pilots did not have specific instruction on the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) in the online course they were required to take before flying the Boeing 737 Max 8.

The angle of attack sensor, at bottom center, is seen on a 737 Max aircraft at the Boeing factory in Renton, Washington, US, March 27, 2019.

Following the first crash of its 737 Max 8 plane in October, Boeing was working on a software update to fix a "safety feature" designed to pitch the plane's nose down to avoid a stall.

That effort was complicated, however, by the 35-day government shutdown that ended in February, according to Wall Street Journal. With all but the most essential staff - air-traffic controllers and safety oversight workers, for example - on furlough, the software fix was delayed by five weeks from their original expected delivery date of January.

A worker cleans a fountain in front of the White House on the 22nd day of the US government shutdown, January 12, 2019 in Washington, DC.

在過去的幾個月以及獅航610航班事故之後，波音一直在開發737 MAX飛行控制軟件的改進方案，旨在使這款機型可以具備更高的安全性。這些工作包括對MCAS的飛控法則、飛行顯示界面、操作手冊和機組人員培訓的更新。經過改進的飛控法則綜合考慮了迎角(AOA, angle of attack)輸入，對安定面配平指令做了一定限制，以應對迎角讀數錯誤，從而確保可以保持對升降舵的控制。

這項軟件升級經過設計、研發和測試，最終進入認證環節。據《華爾街日報》報道，2月份才結束的35天政府關門危機導致認證環節更爲複雜。由於相關的重要工作人員處於休假狀態，例如空中交通管制員和安全監督工作人員，軟件升級比原定的1月份預計交付日期延遲了五週。

Embattled aviation giant Boeing pledged Wednesday to do all it can to prevent crashes like two that killed nearly 350 people in recent months, as it unveiled a fix to the flight software of its grounded 737 MAX aircraft, AFP reported.

Boeing gathered hundreds of pilots and reporters to unveil the changes to the MCAS stall prevention system, which has been implicated in the crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia, as part of a charm offensive to restore the company's reputation.

An aerial photo shows Jet Airways and 9 Air Boeing 737 MAX airplanes, as well as a 737 MAX 7, grounded at Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington, US March 21, 2019.

據最新消息，美國波音公司27日發佈公告，介紹了737 MAX系列飛機軟件更新情況和對飛行員培訓的新內容。

軟件更新主要涉及飛機仰角過大時自動壓低機頭的模塊，也就是MCAS。公告稱，更新後，MCAS將比較來自兩個迎角傳感器的輸入數據，如果兩組數據達到或相差5.5度以上，不再觸發並激活MCAS，並授權飛行員手動控制飛機。

波音公司還公佈了針對737 MAX飛行員的培訓更新內容，將爲737 MAX飛行員增加一個電腦培訓內容，旨在使飛行員“對737 MAX速度調整系統，包括MCAS功能，相關的現有機組程序和相關軟件更新瞭解得更爲深刻”，這部分培訓內容獲得相關監管機構批准後可供所有737 MAX飛行員使用。培訓課程還要求飛行員學習更新後的操作手冊、快速參考手冊、相關故障檢查表等文件。

Sources: CBS news, Business insider, CNN, People's Daily, The Paper, Chinanews.com

Compiled by He Jieqiong