Joe Nocera wildly overstates the case in stating that Boeing "murdered" the passengers on those two flights. Yes, they were negligent. But American and Western European pilots who have encountered that same malfunction reacted in accordance with their training and understanding of the aircraft's systems, disabled the runaway trim, and la…
Joe Nocera wildly overstates the case in stating that Boeing "murdered" the passengers on those two flights. Yes, they were negligent. But American and Western European pilots who have encountered that same malfunction reacted in accordance with their training and understanding of the aircraft's systems, disabled the runaway trim, and landed safely at their destinations. Test pilots reproducing the conditions that led to those crashes were likewise easily able to handle the malfunction. In one of those crashes, the same malfunction had occurred on that airplane's previous flight, and the pilot had dealt with it safely, but inexplicably failed to report it to maintenance. So no, Joe (what's with people named Joe this week?), it wasn't murder.
Joe Nocera wildly overstates the case in stating that Boeing "murdered" the passengers on those two flights. Yes, they were negligent. But American and Western European pilots who have encountered that same malfunction reacted in accordance with their training and understanding of the aircraft's systems, disabled the runaway trim, and landed safely at their destinations. Test pilots reproducing the conditions that led to those crashes were likewise easily able to handle the malfunction. In one of those crashes, the same malfunction had occurred on that airplane's previous flight, and the pilot had dealt with it safely, but inexplicably failed to report it to maintenance. So no, Joe (what's with people named Joe this week?), it wasn't murder.