The below is a grim read, and shows what happens when imponderable
complexity performs very ponderable mass murder. Unlike red-herringing
here on nettime, it was a very physical fight between humans and
machines, which humans lost due to limits of muscle power.
Next time someone tries to abstract the murder into some bullshit
complexity, re-read from the below:
'''Manual trimming means using banal muscle power, insiders call this
work even "acrobatic". Probably that is why the affected airline
Ethiopian Airlines in their communication this week, it is very
unfortunate that the pilots of the crash machine "despite their hard
work" could not prevent the aircraft to continue the deadly course.'''
They probably died swearing. They knew that it was the machine killing
them. I wonder if they died screaming at the machine or at its designers?
Machine translated from
https://www.heise.de/tp/features/Absturz-ET-302-Minuten-des-Schreckens-4365546.html
Preliminary investigation report from Addis Ababa relieves the pilots
after the second crash of a Boeing 737 Max - and provides dramatic
insights, at the same time, the question of the relationship between man
and computer comes to a head
On a dry field a few miles outside the Ethiopian town of Bischoftu,
flight ET 302 ends on Sunday morning, March 10, at 8:45 am in a
fireball. For 149 passengers and eight crew members from 33 nations, it
meant death. Several meters deep, the soil is torn open, the earth
burned black. A short flight of terrifying moments: The Boeing 737 MAX 8
machine was barely seven minutes in the air after it had just left the
Bole Airport of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.
The pilots flew according to the standards
Now, just over a month later, a preliminary report is available. The
report was eagerly awaited as the circumstances surrounding Flight ET
302 continue to raise pressing questions. The aircraft's control
software was soon suspected, as in a crash a few months earlier, in
which a Lion-Air machine of the same type (also a Boeing 737 Max)
crashed in Indonesia. This killed 189 people.
Whether the controversial control system of the model family for the
calamities ultimately alone (or in which constellation) was decisive,
must be further clarified in the details. However, the preliminary
investigation report from Addis Ababa, which the Ethiopian Minister of
Transport Dagmawit Moges presented to the public at the end of the week,
provides some information that could help to educate.
For example, the crew of Ethiopian Airlines acted correctly in the
minutes before the crash and complied with all requirements set by the
manufacturer Boeing for the critical flight phase. Occasionally even the
qualification of the crew had been questioned. At first, the pilots were
acting professionally according to the checklist "Stabilizer Trim
Runaway" and switched off the electric trim. Nevertheless, you can not
bring the machine under control. The course of the flight remained
unstable. According to the research from Addis Ababa, there is no doubt
that the nose of the machine has been pushed down automatically several
times without appropriate instructions.
Deadly fiasco
In vain did the crew of the 737 fight to stabilize the situation. Three
times the captain called to his co-pilot "Pull up!", But it did not
help. The data from the flight recorder of ET 302 clearly shows that the
pilots repeatedly switched the automatic control on and off. They
followed the instructions. The on-board computer stubbornly took over
and kept the direction, pulling the nose of the aircraft down again and
again. Enormous forces must have been created, possibly in connection
with an unusual acceleration - forces that had a dramatic effect on the
course of the flight and worsened the situation.
Is that why obvious attempts to trim by handwheel failed? Such manual
interventions are part of the pilots' flight repertoire - and they are
usually associated with considerable effort. Manual trimming means using
banal muscle power, insiders call this work even "acrobatic". Probably
that is why the affected airline Ethiopian Airlines in their
communication this week, it is very unfortunate that the pilots of the
crash machine "despite their hard work" could not prevent the aircraft
to continue the deadly course.
However, the question also remains after these considerations ultimately
not answered, why the juggernaut did not continue consistently manually.
If the electric motors for trim adjustment are disconnected from the
power supply, the autopilot can actually no longer provide any inputs.
Did the pilots of ET 302 come up with the right approach, but - under
enormous stress - changed the "course of action" too hectic and thus
enabled further trim inputs of a faulty system?
More software problems - rival Airbus rethinks security architecture
While the crew is relieved to a certain extent by the preliminary
investigation report from Addis Ababa, the pressure on Boeing is getting
bigger and bigger. After two crashes with a total of 346 victims, the
controversial control software MCAS should actually be modified quickly,
but you came across recently on a second software problem. This was
stated in the revision of the controversial control program, but is not
directly related, Boeing said.
The competent aviation authority FAA, however, classifies the problem as
safety-relevant. The FAA had previously been under pressure, alleging
that the US agency had turned a blind eye to certification of the 737 Max.
Meanwhile, the European company Airbus seems to learn from the
mistakes of its US competitors. A computer update is being made for the
A320 family to help do the right thing in complex moments and under
pressure. This reflects a rethinking of the security architecture that
has become essential and simultaneously a problem in a modern aviator.
Warnings, alert priorities and procedures should be designed to ensure
that pilots can quickly and correctly diagnose the source of erroneous
information.
Behind this is the realization that in modern aircraft with multiple
interacting systems, too many levels exist between the source
information and the pilots - a complexity that poses potentially deadly
dangers.
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