Boeing warns pilots in wake of lethal Indonesian 737 crash

Boeing Co. has issued a security bulletin reminding pilots of the steps required to make sure they preserve management of their plane within the wake of final month’s lethal plunge of an Indonesian jetliner into the Java Sea.
The Flight Operations Technical Bulletin, dated Monday, was despatched to Boeing clients around the globe. Its function is to “reinforce active flight crew monitoring of airplane state and flight path management to prevent airplane upsets.”
While it doesn’t particularly deal with Sriwijaya Air Flight SJ182 — which went into an abrupt dive shortly after takeoff on Jan. 9, killing all 62 aboard — it’s a high-level reminder for pilots to watch their plane for the sort of points that occurred previous to the crash and the best way to recuperate from such conditions.

“Loss of Control In-flight remains the single greatest cause of fatalities in commercial aviation,” the corporate mentioned within the doc reviewed by Bloomberg News. “This bulletin is meant to reinforce the importance for active monitoring of the airplane state while managing the airplane flight path.”
Less than three minutes after departing from Jakarta, the left engine on the 737-500 started decreasing energy as the fitting engine’s setting remained the identical, in line with a preliminary report issued Feb. 10 by Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee.
Such unequal thrust settings could cause a aircraft to show in the event that they aren’t countered correctly. According to the report, there have been indications the pilots weren’t capable of preserve their assigned heading. At the identical time, the flight crew was making an attempt to show round a storm, so may also have been distracted.
About 83 seconds after the throttle difficulty arose, the aircraft banked greater than 45 levels to the left and inside seconds it was diving towards the Java Sea from a peak of just about 11,000 ft (3,354 meters).
Indonesian investigators haven’t mentioned what prompted the crash, however it’s clear that the aircraft went uncontrolled within the closing 30 seconds of the flight.

“Boeing regularly communicates with customers on how they can safely and confidently operate their airplanes,” the corporate mentioned in an emailed assertion. “In close coordination with investigative and regulatory authorities, these latest communications reinforce the importance of industrywide and Boeing guidance and training materials on aircraft upset prevention and recovery.”
In the bulletin, the corporate lists varied causes that may set off a lack of management, which embody malfunctions and incorrect actions by pilots. Preventing such concurrences “involves the active participation of both pilots,” it mentioned.
“Active monitoring skills are essential to facilitate early detection of conditions that can lead to an airplane upset,” the corporate mentioned. An upset happens when a aircraft flies too slowly or banks, climbs or descends too steeply.
It additionally warned towards distractions and complacency. “Highly automated and reliable flight control systems have greatly reduced pilot workloads, but the requirement for monitoring complex systems has increased,” it mentioned.

As within the Sriwijaya Air accident, which started with what seems to have been a comparatively minor difficulty with the jet’s automated throttle management, Boeing mentioned pilots must preserve an in depth look ahead to indicators of bizarre flight exercise.
“Minor excursions such as simply overbanking in a turn or flying slow on approach can progress to a larger divergence from the intended flight path and lead to an airplane upset condition and potential loss of control,” the corporate warned.