Briefing: August 2019

Allied Pilots Association President Daniel Carey vigorously defended the Ethiopian Airlines pilots who died when their Boeing 737 MAX overpowered their determined but ultimately futile attempts to keep the airplane from diving into the ground. Carey and several others testified at a hearing held by the Houses Subcommittee on Aviation as a stakeholder in the aftermath of the lengthy grounding of the new aircraft. Carey said public comments that cast doubt on the skills and professionalism of the Ethiopian crew are baseless and offensive. I am very familiar with Ethiopian Airs pilot training program and facilities, and I can tell you that they are world-class, he told committee members. To make the claim that these accidents would not happen to U.S.-trained pilots is presumptuous and not supported by fact. He also called for changes to the FAA certification process and warned of training shortcomings for pilots returning to the MAX with its new software.

Editorial Staff

Saturday, July 27, 2019 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The Allied Pilots Association defended Ethiopian Airlines pilots involved in the 737 MAX crashes, asserting their world-class training and advocating for FAA certification and MAX pilot training reforms.
Airbus launched the long-range A321XLR, a new version of its popular A321, and is testing "flapping" wingtip technology to reduce aircraft weight and drag.
Most Citation 525-series aircraft with Tamarack active winglets were repaired following emergency ADs for uncommanded rolls, although Tamarack Aerospace subsequently filed for bankruptcy.

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Pilots Defended

Allied Pilots Association President Daniel Carey vigorously defended the Ethiopian Airlines pilots who died when their Boeing 737 MAX overpowered their determined but ultimately futile attempts to keep the airplane from diving into the ground. Carey and several others testified at a hearing held by the House’s Subcommittee on Aviation as a stakeholder in the aftermath of the lengthy grounding of the new aircraft. Carey said public comments that cast doubt on the skills and professionalism of the Ethiopian crew are baseless and offensive. “I am very familiar with Ethiopian Air’s pilot training program and facilities, and I can tell you that they are world-class,” he told committee members. “To make the claim that these accidents would not happen to U.S.-trained pilots is presumptuous and not supported by fact.” He also called for changes to the FAA certification process and warned of training shortcomings for pilots returning to the MAX with its new software.

Unconscious Pilot

The NTSB says pilot incapacitation led to the fatal crash of a Cessna Citation in May but it will likely never know what caused the pilot to lose consciousness at the controls. Gonzalez Mejia, a 9000-hour commercial pilot, was delivering the aircraft from Alton, Illinois to its new owner at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport when he stopped communicating and the airplane headed out over the Atlantic. A couple of Air Force F-15s caught up to it and saw Mejia slumped over the controls. The aircraft presumably ran out of fuel and dropped into the water. Neither the aircraft nor Mejia’s body was found so there’s no way to determine if Mejia suffered a medical issue or if a problem with the aircraft led to his loss of consciousness.