FLIGHT DIRECTOR “CONFLICT” LED TO CRASH
The struggle to find balance between pilot input and autonomous control of aircraft added another chapter with the revelation that the crash of a state-of-the-art military helicopter in April happened during a “conflict” between the pilot and the aircraft’s flight director. The Royal Canadian Air Force is investigating the crash of a CH-148 Cyclone, a militarized version of the S-92 with a full fly-by-wire control system, off Greece. All six crew were killed when the helicopter went into the Ionian Sea during a NATO exercise. Lt.-Gen. Alain Pelletier, commander of the Canadian Air Division said the aircraft’s flight director ended up “in competition with the inputs that the pilot was trying to actually induce in order to set the recovery. That element of conflict resulted because of the flight-control inputs.” Details of the nature of the flight condition of the aircraft were not released but Pelletier said it was a scenario that had not been tested during certification.
MAX MISTAKES MADE
FAA Administrator admitted to Congress that both the FAA and Boeing “made mistakes” during certification of the Boeing 737 MAX and that steps are being taken to avoid a repeat. Dickson was in the hot seat before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and defended the agency’s responsiveness to investigations by lawmakers. Meanwhile, a whistleblower warned of systemic problems within the FAA and at Boeing that led to the issues with the MAX and predicted more crashes if they aren’t fixed. Curtis Ewbank told both the Senate and House committees dealing with the issue that similar problems exist in the 777X program.
