Submission + - Boeing Identifies New Software Problem On Grounded Boeing 737 Max (bloomberg.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Boeing Co. engineers have discovered a new software problem on the grounded 737 Max that must be patched before the plane can return to service, Federal Aviation Administration chief Steve Dickson said. A light indicating that the stabilizer trim system wasn’t working properly “had been staying on for longer than a desired period,“ Dickson said, without providing more detail. The issue involves an alert designed to warn when the so-called trim system, which helps raise and lower the plane’s nose, isn’t working properly, according to two people familiar with the issue who weren’t authorized to comment on it.
It’s not clear how much of a delay, if any, the issue will create as Boeing finalizes numerous fixes required to get its best-selling plane back into service. One of the people familiar with the trim alert problem said it’s not likely to change Boeing’s projection of returning the plane to service by mid-2020 because the company had built padding into its schedule. The trim alert issue resulted from Boeing’s redesign of the two flight computers that control the 737 Max to make them more resilient to failure, the two people said.
It’s not clear how much of a delay, if any, the issue will create as Boeing finalizes numerous fixes required to get its best-selling plane back into service. One of the people familiar with the trim alert problem said it’s not likely to change Boeing’s projection of returning the plane to service by mid-2020 because the company had built padding into its schedule. The trim alert issue resulted from Boeing’s redesign of the two flight computers that control the 737 Max to make them more resilient to failure, the two people said.
