FILE – This Dec. 7, 2015, file photo shows the second Boeing 737 MAX airplane being built on the assembly line in Renton, Wash. The president of the pilots’ union at American Airlines says Boeing made mistakes in its design of the 737 Max and not telling pilots about new flight-control software on the plane. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)Airline union leaders and a famed former airline pilot said Wednesday that Boeing made mistakes while developing the 737 Max, and the biggest was not telling anybody about new flight-control software so that pilots could train for it.
Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, who landed a crippled airliner safely on the Hudson River in 2009, said he doubted that any U.S. pilots practiced handling a specific malfunction until it happened on two Max jets that crashed, killing 346 people. He said Max pilots should train for such emergencies in simulators – not just on computers, as Boeing proposes.
“We should all want pilots to experience these challenging situations for the first time in a simulator, not in flight, with passengers and crew on board,” Sullenberger said, “and reading about it on an iPad is not even close to sufficient.”
Sullenberger’s comments to the House aviation subcommittee came during the third congressional hearing on Boeing’s troubled plane, which has been grounded for three months.
The president of the pilots’ union at American Airlines said Boeing’s zeal to minimize pilot-training costs for airlines that would buy the 737 Max jet contributed to design errors and inadequate training. That has left a “crisis of trust” around aviation safety, he said.