The weather in Jakarta was clear on the morning of Oct. 29 when a brand-new Boeing 737 Max passenger jet left Indonesia’s capital on a domestic hop to a nearby island. Soon after, Lion Air Flight 610 plunged into the Java Sea, killing all 189 people aboard.
No foul play is suspected. Something cataclysmic occurred on board that potentially involved pilot error or equipment malfunction. But as safety officials, the airline and Boeing investigate, one chilling scenario has emerged: This super-modern, highly automated aircraft may have crashed itself by suddenly diving into the water. The pilots apparently had no time to recover.
The 737 is the workhorse single-aisle jet of Chicago-based Boeing. If you’ve flown in the U.S., chances are you’ve flown the 737. United and American operate 737s. Southwest Airlines flies it exclusively. The 737 Max is the newest, most advanced version; Lion Air’s 737 Max 8 plane went into service just a few months ago.
What may have happened? One theory is that this airplane may have out-smarted its pilots. The computerized cockpit controls of the 737 Max have a new safety feature designed to protect the plane from a midflight stall. If sensors detect the aircraft rising too steeply, the controls will react automatically by pushing the nose down. That’s all good if sensors are delivering accurate flight data, but what if those readings were faulty or misinterpreted? In that case, the plane could sense danger where there was none and overreact by hurtling downward.
It may be tempting to ascribe a rise-of-the-robots fear to the Lion Air crash. Flying seems miraculous, but at least passengers know they’re safe in the hands of experienced pilots. Now there’s a scenario in which cockpit crews might lose control of their jet to a confused computer? This will not help members of the public overcome fear of flying— or wariness of other innovations. How about driverless cars?
Indeed those are tempting worries, but misguided. Technology has made air travel safer than ever, while driverless vehicles will drastically reduce road fatalities. Yet no innovation eliminates risk.
If there are unidentified risk factors to flying the 737 Max, millions of air passengers and their pilots will expect Boeing to respond. New planes are nice. Safe planes are paramount.