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Old 12-18-2020, 09:55 PM
  #9  
Texasbound
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Joined APC: Oct 2019
Posts: 414
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Originally Posted by rickair7777 View Post
Oops. Again.

Boeing alleged to have "coached" test pilots in re-cert efforts...


https://www.reuters.com/article/us-b...KBN28S314?il=0
Thank you for saying "alleged", page 7 of the report.

The Committee’s investigation (Meaning a bunch of Senators on a Committee)
discovered that at least one official FAA recertification
test event was improperly influenced by Boeing. At least one FAA Aircraft Certification Test
Pilot appears to have been complicit in this testing. Slow and incomplete responses to document
requests and incomplete interviews have hindered progress on this specific topic. Some of the
delays are due to conflict with ongoing criminal investigations. Therefore, it is impossible to
determine how much of the systemic training, oversight, and management intervention problems
detailed in this report may have contributed to the certification of the 737 MAX
. (Translation: We have no idea, but we are going to say it anyway)

Page 44 of the Report.

The whistleblower’s ad hoc testing was encouraged by the Aircraft Evaluation Group
(AEG) officials, due to previous testing related to pilot reaction times to an MCAS induced
runaway stabilizer in July 2019. According to the whistleblower and at least one other FAA
official, the test was conducted utilizing one FAA Aircraft Certification Office (ACO) test pilot
and one AEG test pilot who also participated on the 737 MAX Flight Standardization Board
(FSB). The AEG pilot was only included in the test after a second ACO test pilot became
unavailable. The whistleblower alleges Boeing officials were present for the testing and
encouraged the test pilots to “remember, get right on that pickle switch” immediately prior to the
exercise, which they acknowledged. “Pickle switch” refers to the stabilizer trim control
switches
, which adjust the horizontal stabilizer via electrical controls, enabling the pilot to
quickly counter the MCAS action. According to the whistleblower, the FAA ACO test pilot
reacted in approximately four seconds in accordance with the assumed reaction time. The AEG
pilot reacted in approximately sixteen seconds, or four times longer than the accepted assumption
of four seconds.
Who calls the Stab Trim switches "The pickle switch?"


Senate investigators fault FAA over Boeing jet, safety (msn.com)

In a statement, the FAA said the report “contains a number of unsubstantiated allegations" and defended its review of the Max, calling it thorough and deliberate.
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