Multiple Pilots Warned Feds About Boeing Model

The Dallas Morning News reports:

Pilots repeatedly voiced safety concerns about the Boeing 737 Max 8 to federal authorities, with one captain calling the flight manual “inadequate and almost criminally insufficient” several months before Sunday’s Ethiopian Air crash that killed 157 people, an investigation by The Dallas Morning News found.

The News found at least five complaints about the Boeing model in a federal database where pilots can voluntarily report about aviation incidents without fear of repercussions. The complaints are about the safety mechanism cited in preliminary reports for an October plane crash in Indonesia that killed 189.

The disclosures found by The News reference problems during Boeing 737 Max 8 flights with an autopilot system, and they all occurred while trying to gain altitude during takeoff — many mentioned the plane turning nose down suddenly.

There’s much more at the link. No paywall.

CNN reports:

A raft of nations have temporarily suspended Boeing 737 Max flights after the fatal plane crash in Ethiopia but the United States and Canada are still flying a substantial number of those models. The European Union began suspending Boeing 737 Max flights in Europe on Tuesday, joining more than a dozen nations and aviation authorities.

Before the EU’s announcement, nations like Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Oman, Singapore, Turkey and the United Kingdom announced their own bans on Tuesday. The UK, Oman, Singapore, Australia, Ireland, France, and Norwegian Airlines suspended the whole Boeing 737 Max range.