FAA—citing non-specific “continued airworthiness activity”—reminded operators that angle-of-attack (AOA) sensors can be easily damaged during “normal operations,” and must be carefully maintained to ensure safe flight operations.
A vulnerability in the avionics systems on some airliners could allow someone with access to the aircraft to manipulate the flight data that is provided to pilots, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has warned.
Fixing the latest Boeing 737 MAX flight control system anomaly flagged by FAA will not require hardware changes, and design differences between the MAX and its 737NG predecessor mean the issue presents far less risk on older 737s, ATW has confirmed.
Boeing 757 operators have been ordered to inspect aileron components following an in-service report of an issue that limited a flight crew’s ability to move the flight-control surfaces.
A software design error that misinterprets GPS time updates is the root cause of Collins Aerospace GPS and multi-mode receiver malfunctions, the manufacturer has advised aircraft operators.
The FAA on June 10 said it was investigating the cause of a satellite navigation system anomaly on Bombardier CRJ and other jets that caused several US airlines to cancel flights.
Ireland’s Ryanair has signed up with CEFA Aviation for a flight replay app that its pilots will be able to use in the cockpit once the aircraft is parked.
Collins Aerospace announced that Steve Timm has taken over as president of its avionics business unit, five months after the company merged with UTC Aerospace Systems (UTAS).
The FAA has assembled a new, multi-agency Technical Advisory Board (TAB) to review the proposed software fix for the Boeing 737 MAX’s maneuvering characteristics augmentation system (MCAS), the flight-control law implicated in two crashes of the aircraft type that killed 346 people over a five-month period.
New questions are being raised over the development and oversight of the Boeing 737 MAX after revelations the manufacturer knew about a misconfigured angle-of-attack (AOA) disagree annunciator alert message on the aircraft in 2017, but did not fix it or tell operators about the problem until after last October’s crash of a Lion Air 737 MAX 8—the first of two to strike the model in five months.
FAA is targeting late May or early June for approving Boeing’s proposed changes to the 737 MAX and issuing an airworthiness directive that would mandate the upgrades and clear the way for US MAX operations to resume, the agency told airline representatives April 12.
L3 Commercial Aviation announced a new line of cockpit voice and flight-data recorders (CVR/FDR) designed to meet the 2021 European mandate for CVRs with a minimum of 25 hrs. of recording time.
As the investigation continues into the causes of last month’s Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX accident, sources close to the probe say flight data recorder (FDR) data firmly supports the supposition that the aircraft’s left angle-of-attack (AOA) sensor vane detached seconds after takeoff and that, contrary to statements from the airline, suggests the crew did not follow all the steps for the correct procedure for a runaway stabilizer.
It’s a piece of airline equipment that everybody hopes will never be needed. But if an emergency locator transmitter (ELT) does have to be pressed into use, it’s important is as efficient as possible.
