The second crash of Boeing’s new aircraft within a few months, casts doubt on its safety. So far, the 737 was considered as the backbone of global fleets. By Andreas Spaeth.
The German holiday airline TUI has a lot of bad luck. For the past two years to prepare for the arrival of the new flagship, the Boeing 737 Max 8, in the night of Wednesday, the first machine from Seattle is to be transferred to Germany. To ensues at this point a massive debate about the safety of this type of aircraft after the second crash of a brand-new aircraft of this pattern within just five months of the year on Sunday in Ethiopia currently. What is special about the Boeing 737 Max 8 and how it differs from other 737 models, the most widely used transport aircraft in the world?
Workhorse of the Airlines
Watched the beginning of this decade, Boeing in a Dilemma: The Airlines have requested a more economical, more modern aircraft for Short – and medium-haul routes. Boeing had only the Evergreen of the type 737 range. The 737 is the classic transport plane for typical circuits of up to a few hours duration, and have been for over 50 years. The first two spotlights from Seattle was in February 1968 at Lufthansa in the line of duty and could carry about a hundred passengers. So Boeing had for decades ahead, long before Airbus came 20 years later with the competition model A320 on the market.
Stay on the ground: China start banning for Boeing’s 737 Max
Until the beginning of 2019 Boeing of the 737 almost 10.500 pieces had shipped, by far the most widely used transport aircraft of the Jet Era. Again and again have been brought over the decades, new, modernized and improved versions on the market. But almost ten years ago, the end of the options seemed to be achieved. Airbus was the race with the offer of a revised Version of the A320 with new engines the advance and achieved with the A320neo, called Version huge sales success. Boeing was under pressure to catch up.
Complicated Tag
And there’s exactly the Dilemma: was Different than the A320, under whose wings without a major redesign, larger engines hang on, this was in the Boeing 737, the wings hang lower to the ground, not readily possible. The Airlines requested anyway by the manufacturers of new short-haul aircraft. But Airbus and Boeing have refused, because a new design would have two-digit billion sums swallowed up without the necessary quantum leap in efficiency gain, which might have made such investments worthwhile.
In addition, Airbus and Boeing with capital and resources already committed in the development of their new Langstreckenjets A350 and 787. Therefore, Boeing was forced to compromise and, in their core, decades-old 737 redesign. Namely, the so-called LEAP engines from the manufacturer of CFM to hang International with a diameter of around 1.80 metres under the wings, had to be extended, for example, the nose gear of 20 inches, thus further enough distance from the ground. At the same time, the new engines need to hang more in front of the wings than previous 737-engines. This alters the aerodynamics of the aircraft.
The Problem with the stalling
And it is precisely here that the Problem begins: with the new engine arrangement, the aircraft has the tendency to lift the nose. This can lead in the worst case, to stall, so in the Absence of buoyancy, and then to crash. This is a Problem to automatically compensate for the Boeing built in a System called MCAS (Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System), which lowers upon detection of a critical flight situation, automatically the nose to escape a stall.
However, Boeing has waived initially, this new feature to communicate to the pilots and their Training for the new pattern. For this reason, the pilot of Indonesia’s Lion Air in October 2018 and fought after the launch of Jakarta without Knowledge of this System a minute-long fight with your machine, the lowered seem, incorrectly, automatically the nose, while the pilots were manually, however, and to win the amount sought. The end was tragic, the 737 Max 8, which crashed in the Java sea, all 189 occupants were killed. Subsequently, pilot associations practiced worldwide criticism of Boeing’s lack of communication, the accident investigation will take.
Launch of the 777X cancelled for the time being
In the crash in Ethiopia on Sunday, such a fight and is so far available data On upward and downward movement of the aircraft is not visible. Whether it is cash or another technical Problem was here is a comparison, or if the cause is not directly related with the type of aircraft and its characteristics, is so far unclear. The condition of the crash site indicates a frontal collision on the ground with the nose forward, since no major individual parts and the plane has ripped a deep crater in the ground.
One way or the other, the second 737 MAX 8 to crash is a serious blow to Boeing and the largest security crisis since the Grounding of the Boeing 787, six years ago. The company said the Wednesday’s planned ceremony of unveiling of your new Langstreckenjets 777X last night. Worldwide, around 350 Jets of the type 737 Max 8 currently flying, largest operator, Southwest Airlines in the United States. Are ordered through 5110 copies of the type. In Europe, the largest operators are currently Norwegian, TUI, and Turkish Airlines.
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50 years of the Jumbo Jet: An icon celebrates its birthdayThe nickname is
A Jumbo Jet of British Airways on the approach to Heathrow airport. The image illustrates why the Boeing-aircraft with the type designation 747 shortly after the market introduction 50 years ago, missed his nickname of “Jumbo” got: The four-engine Jet is simply gigantic.
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50 years of the Jumbo Jet: An icon celebrates its birthdayOld Friends
Boeing President Bill Allen and the chief of the U.S. airline Pan Am’s Juan Trippe (right) on 9. In February 1968, after the maiden flight of the first 747. The two forged a long-standing friendship. Trippe should have addressed All of the fishing on the plans to the new aircraft: “If You build it, I’ll buy it”. The answer: “If You buy it, I build it”.
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50 years of the Jumbo Jet: An icon celebrates its birthdayTravel with glitz and Glamour
The new 747 was not praised only because of its technical innovations, it also spread Glamour. With a Lounge, where Cocktails were served, promised you a elegant and relaxing travel experience. With more than 70 meters in length and a wingspan of nearly 60 meters, you offered – depending on the Seating arrangement – between 366 and 550 passengers.
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50 years of the Jumbo Jet: An icon celebrates its birthdayDisasters
The Jumbo is also associated with large-scale accidents. The crash of a Lufthansa plane in 1974 at a cost of just after the Start in Nairobi 59. In 1977, two Jumbos collided on the Tenerife airport – 583 Dead. 270 people were killed in 1988 in the crash of a Jumbo jet after the Explosion of a terrorist bomb on Board over the Scottish town of Lockerbie (see photo).
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50 years of the Jumbo Jet: An icon celebrates its birthdayBig Mouth
The Jumbo is characterized by the “hump”, the upper deck, in which, among other things, the Cockpit is located. This design allows for the cargo version of the machine, a gate that allows a generous load. Boeing sold the four-engine, and to SIP fuel at the end of the plane, in the meantime, practically only in the cargo version.
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50 years of the Jumbo Jet: An icon celebrates its birthdayShuttle Carrier
The U.S. space Shuttle Discovery rides piggyback on our giant – a photo from the year 2012. The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) were two of the modified aircraft 747-100 to the Transport of the space by the American space Agency, NASA, ferries. They have been used for the return transport of the Shuttles at the Kennedy Space Center, where the Shuttle landing took place on an alternate place to land.
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50 years of the Jumbo Jet: An icon celebrates its birthdayVictory flyer
The Lufthansa was in July 2014, to fly the German national football team with the world champion Cup in the Luggage from the Endspielort Rio de Janeiro to Berlin. The 747-8 had been repainted to the “victory plane of the Fanhansa”.
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50 years of the Jumbo Jet: An icon celebrates its birthdayIron Maiden’s Ed Force One
The British Heavy Metal Band Iron Maiden lands in may of 2016 with her chartered Boeing 747 at the airport of Düsseldorf. Metalheads and plan Potter the best places to d a s aircraft watch the “Ed Force One” – named after the mascot of the Band, the Monster Eddie. Was flown the machine by the way by the lead singer Bruce Dickinson himself.
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50 years of the Jumbo Jet: An icon celebrates its birthdayDinosaurs of the air
As for the larger Airbus Jet A380 (in the foreground) does not conform to the 747 the economic requirements of the airlines that use the two radiators such as the A350 or the Boeing models 777 and 787 routes rather. In the past year, the Jumbo is still all 18 new orders in the books, only 24 completed orders.
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50 years of the Jumbo Jet: An icon celebrates its birthdayAir Force One
To be delivered to the 1548 out of 747 are probably only a few, even though US President Donald Trump, the next President machine “Air Force One” on the Basis of the 747 has been ordered. Also, the Japanese Emperor and the Sultan of Brunei to know the “Queen of the skies” as a government machinery.