My Letter to the Editor of New York Times Magazine - by Capt. “Sully” Sullenberger

Right. The republican's fault. If this sort of partisan trash talk is what passes for analysis these days, then we're all just as doomed as the poor souls on those two ill-fated 737MAX aircraft...

737 Max program was announced in March, 2011. The first flight of the 737Max was January 2016. Final Certification was granted on March 2017. To even hint that somehow this tragedy is somehow the result of any political philosophy is ridiculous. The sweeping under the rug and training shortfalls you noted occurred before the administration changed parties. Check your TDS at the door, please.

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The runaway trim was a result of bad angle of attack data.

Remember the yaw issues on the 737 back in the 90’s. RUDDER PCU were confirmed as the cause of the accidents (2). Both of them in the USA NAS. It may be merely coincidental. The fact that both MAX accidents happened outside the US may be merely coincidental as well.
I dare to say that Training standards even in airlines taking low hours pilots are way higher than most major US airlines, where union rights and job fairs seem more relevant than pilot skills.

https://www.theatlantic.com/notes/2019/03/heres-what-was-on-the-record-about-problems-with-the-737-max/584791/

Quite a nice summary of reports from American 737 max 8 pilots. Some reports of the aircraft doing something stupid but corrected by turning off A/P. In the case of the Ethiopian and Air Lion Crashes i think not even disengaging the A/P helped, and as the 737s rudder trim is not powered, coupled with the enormous loads that are exerted on the stabilizer even inside the flight envelope, there was no way for them to correct the trim.

I dont wana make any conclusions and Im probably wrong, so it will be interesting to read the full report. But heres an interesting quote from Ethiopian investigators "The 33-page report indicates the pilots disengaged power to the horizontal stabilizer system approximately 2 minutes and 35 seconds into the flight. However, according to ABC News consultant and former National Transportation Safety Board Director of the Office of Aviation Safety Tom Haueter, the data recorded from the preliminary report indicates that the pilots, at some point, turned the system back on which allowed a misfiring automatic safety system to take effect." (https://abcnews.go.com/International/damaged-sensor-ethiopian-airlines-737-max-triggered-fatal/story?id=62139860)

Continuous: active, without interruption. Continual: active with interruptions. MCAS triggers at an AoA the computer senses is close to Stall. Then it stops, pausing to recheck the AoA trend, and reinvigorates if the condition remains (AoA too high). It can be disabled easily, by flipping the close out switches, on the back of the pedestal. (Trim motors)

A fine point, but you are mistaking “flight conditions” as sensed by a duff sensor with actual. The Trim keeps pushing Nose Down until the AoA is back in limits. With a reported angle of attack ten degrees high, the trim would never stop. It didn’t. The pilot kept correcting by using elevators and Nose up trim. The MCAS trims the Horizontal Stabilizer. That is not a fair fight. Elevators with full Nose Up trim cannot overcome the giant slab upon which they are mounted.

Im studying economics and going to pilot school next, but good try. Reporting to shareholders often lead to the "profit over quality" mentality Boeing execs and managers have had since the McDonnel Douglas merger. Dont take my word for it, take it from Boeing engineers. Im sure you have something witty to say about them as well? Good old american engineers? Lets just wait and see what caused Boeing to push through a badly designed MCAS system (the cause of many lawsuits by US PILOTS against Boeing) to force fit large new engines on a 60 year old airframe, because thats ingenuity! Im sure it has nothing to do with profits.

Also, Airbus is a public company with shares, so yes, they do also report to shareholders. England, Germany and France own about 28% of the stock, so they are not government supported 100%. What kind of adult makes assumptions like that without any kind of knowledge or research? And if you think that makes them subjects to those respective governments, you need to take a class or two in economics.

And its true, they do get start funding from the EU, but so do many other companies. Its competition for Boeing. As a speaker for the free market im sure youre all for competition. Its also a loan, its not government handouts like the tax breaks Boeing has been gobbling up since pretty much forever. And, again, how many subsidies, tax incentives and contracts has Boeing gotten from the US government and the state of Washington? Its naive to think Boeing and the US government dont go hand in hand, both for sales of aircraft to the state and foreign countries. If there is any company that is supported by the US government, its Boeing and other aircraft and weapons manufacturers. Im sure its a tough pill to swallow but it only takes a quick google to find a lot of information on this. Is there anything wrong with it? Probably not, but you cant accuse one company of doing something and turning the blind eye towards the other, just cause youre american.

Pilots all over the world are flying airplanes safely, the fact that you think safety and airmanship is exclusive to US pilots tells me exactly what kind of person you are. Are they good? Of course! Are many of them among the best? Sure! Are they the only ones? no. Pilots all over the world were flying the max 8 as well, and the actual scenario that happened to the crashed planes have not happened to US pilots of the max 8, as far as i know. If you know of an instance like this i would love for you to share!

Im not sure why youre telling me to get over myself but ill take that advice since its generally a pretty good thing to do, and I hope you take your own advice. Cant wait to have you as my passenger! And trust me when I say i want to be the best pilot I can be, its been my passion in life to develop my airmanship to the level of those famous american pilots like Chuck and Hoover, to fly the damn plane, and there is nothing to suggest my training wont support that.

And I should have added that the online articles always have more and better visuals, sometimes interactive.

Credentials are not a matter of opinion, so if you are going to compare them then at least be fair about it. If you're not going to be fair about it, don't be so shocked and offended when you get called out.

P.S. Sully was sitting behind his keyboard when he wrote his letter, just like the other guy was when he wrote his article.

P.P.S. I know you're reading this.

A simple “heads up” in the manual would have sufficed, plus sim and perhaps a meeting. The 737 MAX has virtually nothing in common with the original. Sistering certification of the later aircraft with the classic is a crime. It is a different type. Boeing eats canal mud on this one.

Be quiet.

Are you challenging him to a duel? Finally, something worthwhile in the comment section!