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efisk66661 karma

In terms of executive responsibility, the second accident is much more troubling than the first. The first accident was the result of a serious engineering design mistake, but that can dealt with by apologizing and compensating victims and changing processes and designs going forward.

The second accident was caused by somebody high up the chain at Boeing choosing to ignore safety issues and keep the plane flying, and the workaround they published apparently didn't even actually work in real world conditions (manual override wasn't physically possible at flight speeds). So, questions...

Was the workaround to the MCAS issue ever tested in a real flight, and if so why didn't they see the problems that happened at Ethiopian airlines?

Second, which executive at Boeing is responsible for keeping the plane flying after the first accident, and can they be held criminally responsible?

efisk66619 karma

Wouldn't those issues have been uncovered with real world testing? The second accident profile was nearly identical to the first, so if Boeing had put a pilot in a Boeing max plane and simulated the mcas failure they would have seen their workaround instructions were insufficient.

Do you know what real world flight testing went into approving the workaround?

efisk66615 karma

Yeah, exactly my concern- it sounds like decisions were made all the way through to follow the path of least regulatory resistance, not to honestly have a concern for safety. Not even bothering to test the workaround to a situation that has already downed a flight sounds like criminal misconduct to me.

efisk6664 karma

Public places currently do not have to say if they are unsafe for an earthquake. Shouldn’t any public space that is likely to collapse in a major earthquake be required to have a warning posted as you walk in? Maybe a grade from 1 to 5 as to how safe the establishment is?

I’m thinking day care centers, apartments, restaurants, houses for sale and rent, etc. A required warning sign would cost virtually nothing and build pressure to get those places retrofit or replaced. Think of it like a max occupancy or food inspection sign that gets posted at a restaurant. Right now the issue of earthquake safety is invisible to most everyone, and short of an earthquake this is the only way I can think of to get the issue dealt with. Has a policy like that been considered in Washington or elsewhere?

efisk6663 karma

This answer belongs in the AMA hall of fame