On the morning of March 10, 2019 (local time), Ethiopian Airlines flight 737 MAX 8 with 157 people crashed, killing all the people on board. According to Flightradar24, the flight tracking website, the "unstable vertical speed" of the Ekai airliner after takeoff has aroused people's concern about the safety of the airliner system. It is reported that this is the second Boeing 737 MAX aircraft accident after the Lion Air crash on October 29, 2018.
According to a statement issued by the official website of Aviation Egypt, the model of ET302 is 737 MAX 8. At the same time, the crash plane is brand new, and it was delivered to AIA only in November 2018. Its age is only four months, which has caused people to speculate about the cause of the accident.
At 6:20 p.m. (local time) on October 29, 2018, Indonesian Lion Airlines flight JT610 from Jakarta, Indonesia to Bangkapeng Port crashed 13 minutes after takeoff, killing all 189 people on board. The crashed airliner, Boeing 737 MAX 8, belongs to the latest model of the Boeing 737 MAX series. It lost contact 13 minutes after takeoff and was subsequently confirmed to have crashed in the waters near West Java, killing all the people on board. This is also the first major safety accident of this series of aircraft since it was put into operation in 2017.Â
After the accident, Boeing's share price fell nearly 7%. Following the crash, the Federal Aviation Administration announced that it would review Boeing's previous safety analysis of the aircraft. Bloomberg also said in its November 2018 report that the flight surveillance system was flawed. Indonesia's official preliminary investigation report also shows that there are problems with flight data sensors, which may feed back erroneous data, causing the pilot to lose control of the aircraft.
In November 2018, Boeing issued a safety update to pilots flying 737 MAX 8, warning that a sensor failure could lead to a sharp decline in the aircraft.
Despite its shortcomings, 737 MAX is still a popular choice for airlines. Elmar Giemulla, a German aviation and traffic law expert, said in November 2018 that there are about 200 Boeing airliners worldwide that are at risk of similar fatal failures and are still used as passenger planes.
In the short term, the impact of the two crashes on Boeing is limited. The fact that international media generally fail to mention is that the Boeing crash did not arouse widespread social anger in the United States and Western countries, because both crashes occurred in Asia and Africa far from the mainstream vision of the United States and the West, with few passengers from Europe and the United States.
In addition, the situation of duopoly in the world civil aircraft market makes it seem that Airbus, which is profitable for fishermen, has no capacity to take on orders that Boeing may lose. Under the situation of duopoly, no major accident on either side will have a fundamental impact on the industry structure. As a result of market game, duopoly will always divide up the market with similar share.
In the long run, Boeing suffered internal injuries from these two air crashes. First, litigation and compensation for air crashes and grounding will continue for a considerable period of time. With the deepening of the investigation, if Boeing is found to have deliberately concealed the fact will trigger a wider range of litigation, will perplex Boeing for a long time, resulting in brand loss. This long-term torture will make it difficult for Boeing's management team to plan the company's long-term strategy and lay hidden dangers for Boeing's future development.
Aircraft, as a commonly used means of transportation, has been suffering from frequent failures in recent years. As an international student, every return plane must take the means of transportation. After frequent flight accidents, we are very worried about the safety of flying. Although with the development of science and technology, aircraft become more and more safe, but as a passenger, we hope that the higher the original safety rate.
Finally, I hope the aircraft will become safer and safer. I also hope that everyone who takes the plane will take off and land safely.
