Sebastian_G wrote:
Probably it will depend a lot in which country the pilot is located. I am not a lawyer but for example in Germany I think it would be close to impossible to get hold of the pilot legally. I am not even sure anybody could go after the pilot directly. Probably you would have to go after EASA who did issue the AD and then EASA would have to go after that guy in a second step. And in the end he can say he was under great stress and reported what he remembers about this incident. Maybe he was not paying attention and then realized the plane was rolled and then thought it rolled in 1 second. Very very difficult to prove he might have reported anything untrue on purpose with enough certainty to make him/her pay.
I know you are right Sebastian, but you can understand the frustration when an AD is issued for a problem that was solved a year ago! And yes, I think the 737 problem has affected any response to anything flight control related.
I don’t necessarily think they were wrong to issue the EAD based on what they were told. But when the facts emerged, they were wrong to keep it in place now for so long.
In a worst case is there an idea what would be involved to temporarily or permanently remove the winglets to get the planes back in the air fast?
Sebastian_G wrote:
In a worst case is there an idea what would be involved to temporarily or permanently remove the winglets to get the planes back in the air fast?
Yes it is possible to reverse but not desirable. EASA looks set to lift AD next week. Then waiting for FAA so should be soon.
So EASA has published terminating actions for the EAD which are simply, comply with the earlier SBs. So all in all the whole thing was a complete waste of time and money. FAA expected to follow suit shortly.
Tough for the owners, and for the company, I hope they emerge ok from Chapter 11 and that no job was lost because of this stupidity.
I think jobs have been lost but they should emerge from Chapter 11. They make a good product but a regulated industry like aviation is hard to innovate in.
Peter wrote:
EASA lifts AD
Yes, I think I already mentioned that…
So EASA has published terminating actions for the EAD which are simply, comply with the earlier SBs. So all in all the whole thing was a complete waste of time and money. FAA expected to follow suit shortly.
So as a manufacturer the only lesson might be that it makes sense to insist for a safety critical SB to become an AD? I understand no manufacturer is keen on publishing an AD but this way the issue can not “pop up” at a later date with unknown consequences.
FAA has just now granted a global AMOC allowing flight using the same SBs!!!
