@dfwskier wrote: @chgoflyer wrote: @dfwskier wrote: Did Herb ground the 737s after the US Air crash in Pittsburgh? That's, of course, not a valid comparison to the current situation. I'm sure you know that. There's also, of course, no way of knowing what Herb would have done Actually it is a pretty valid comparison. We had a 737 nosedive into the ground killing everyone on board -- for no known reason. And Herb was in charge, and Herb did not ground Southwest's 737s and neither did the FAA. I don't believe it's a valid comparison. Here's why: At the time of the crash in 1994, 737-300's had been in service for years. The specific aircraft involved was delivered in 1987 and had approximately 16,800 hours of flight time before the crash. The previous crash in 1991 (which eventually was connected to the Pittsburgh crash and led to the discovery of 737 rudder issues -- after a controversially long FAA investigation) was a 737-200. It had been in service for 9 years and on the date of the accident had accumulated approximately 26,000 flight hours. The two crashes occurred 3 years apart. In the current case, MAX is a new aircraft, in service less than 2 years. Both planes were MAX-800s and both were delivered just months prior to the respective incidents. We know the apparent cause of the first crash (sensor error in an automated system that's seemingly difficult to be corrected by pilots) and initial info from the latest crash -- less than 5 months later -- seems to indicate a similar cause. The investigation into the first crash isn't even yet complete and another similar crash has occurred. It appears there may be a systemic issue with MAX aircraft.
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