Boeing is reportedly getting closer to upgrading its automated software for 737 MAX 8 planes
Boeing will reportedly upgrade the stall prevention software on its 737 MAX 8 planes within "the coming weeks," a Boeing spokesperson told Agence France Presse on Friday. The model has been grounded worldwide following the Ethiopian Airlines crash on Sunday, which occurred shortly after takeoff and killed all 157 people on board.
The updating process began after a 737 MAX 8 flown by Lion Air also crashed just minutes after takeoff in Indonesia in October, killing 189. But it has been expedited following the crash in Ethiopia.
The New York Times reported that the Federal Aviation Administration has found new evidence at the crash site in Ethiopia pointing to connections between the two incidents — specifically the fact that the planes' stabilizers were both facing upward and possibly pressing down on the nose of the plane, which can be triggered by the automated system, though other reasons for their positioning have not been ruled out.
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