[cuban leaf]

Is there no “black box”?

[FlipWilson]

Just a quick question. Is it possible to hack the computer systems of these planes?

[EinNYC]

One of the pilots used the plane, as the German pilot did, to commit suicide via jihad?

[butlerweave]

Jet Was Set To Dive , that’s the new anti stall on the plane that pilots don’t know is on the plane

[SkyPilot]

My speculation:

- several similar aviation accidents had autopilot and/or instrument indicator problems. Rather than simply hand fly the aircraft and rely on the standby gauges, these pilots kept trying to make the automated systems fly the aircraft, and they crashed.

[pgyanke]

From a retired pilot friend... modern planes are equipped with computers to make many decisions for the pilot. It helps in third-world areas where pilots aren’t as well-trained. The pilot doesn’t even have the ability to override much of what the computer decides to do... scary!

In this scenario, the computer thought the plane was stalling. Step 1: drop the nose and gain airspeed. The pilot was likely pulling on the stick for his life while the computer simply ignored him and plowed into the ground.

[SkyPilot]

Separately, the New York Times reported that doomed Ethiopian Airlines plane was in trouble almost immediately after takeoff as it lurched up and down by hundreds of feet at a time.

Correction to my previous post: if that was the case, it should not have been an autopilot problem (autopilot is tied into the instrument indications).

Flight control malfunction of some kind.....

[Gay State Conservative]

Was this pilot suicide? I find it at least a bit curious that of all the flights this aircraft has made the only two that crashed were being piloted by men from majority moslem countries.

[Nifster]

Or was it set manually???
Aloha Snackbar??

[shanover]

Silly me for pontificating with zero aeronautical knowledge, but aren’t every foreseeable contingency,even the most implausible,simulated over and over?

[Paal Gulli]

It couldn’t have been the MCAS. Eye-witnesses saw the plane in flames, and “shuddering.”

[Capt. Tom]

A screw-like device found in the wreckage of the Boeing 737 Max that crashed last Sunday in Ethiopia indicates the plane was configured to dive, a piece of evidence that helped convince U.S. regulators to ground the model,...

If the plane dove into the ground, wouldn't you expect to find the screw like device to be in that position.

Whether it was computer generated or pilot generated is another matter. - Tom

[downtownconservative]

The screw-like device was probably the jackscrew that controls horizontal stabilizer trim position. If the MCAS could affect the stabilizer trim, it would be difficult to overcome with elevator input. If so, you would think the aero engineers would have limited the potential range of input from MCAS. (Maneuver Charactistics Augementation System was installed to compensate for pitch up tendency due to bigger more forward installed jet engines)