Boeing Company today published an update to the flight crew operations manual for its 737 Max 8, warning of a possible fault in the aircraft’s angle of attack system that could cause the aircraft to violently pitch nose down, according to the FAA. The AOA measures the angular difference between the direction the aircraft is moving and the pitch of the aircraft’s wing. The agency followed the ops manual update with an emergency airworthiness directive against the aircraft, warning operators the pitch-over threat exists even when the aircraft is being hand flown by pilots. The agency said operators have less than 30 days to comply with the AD.
FAA Issues Emergency Airworthiness Directive Against Boeing 737 Max 8
Key Takeaways:
- Boeing and the FAA issued an urgent warning and airworthiness directive for the 737 Max 8, highlighting a potential Angle of Attack (AOA) system fault that could cause the aircraft to violently pitch nose down, even during manual flight.
- This warning follows the recent fatal crash of Lion Air flight 610, a 737 Max 8, although investigators are cautious about definitively linking the AOA issue as the sole cause.
- The concern is that incorrect AOA data could mislead aircraft systems, causing the stabilizer trim to pitch the aircraft's nose down for up to 10 seconds, or lead to misinterpretation by the flight crew.
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