In response to the two deadly 737 MAX crashes, Boeing’s Chief Aerospace Safety Officer Mike Delaney on Monday outlined how — beyond specific changes to its design practices and its manufacturing operations — the company’s leadership aims to rebuild and improve its entire safety culture.
The article is pretty much a puff-piece -- "Lookit us,we're going grrrreat! Safety!!!"
It's all eyewash. Did Boeing fire all of the managers who ever involved in silencing the engineers who pointed out problems with the 787 and 737-MAX? If they haven't (and I'd bet they haven't), then this means nothing. The managers and executives, who have been instrumental in making the company one where the focus is not on making good products, are still there.
If they were serious about this shit, they'd move the company's headquarters back to Seattle, to signify that their main concern is quality, not sucking up to their largest customer.
Way back in the day, the naval engineering firm of Gibbs & Cox was pitching a design for a new class of warships to the Navy. One of the people pitching the design was William Gibbs, one of the founders. A young naval officer was asking about what measures the company was making to insure quality. Mr. Gibbs looked at the engineer and said: "Young man, I am quality."
That is an attitude that cannot be found at Boeing.
Everything about this, from day one, reminds me of Michael Crichton's book Airframe.
ReplyDeleteTB, I haven't read it. What did you think of it?
ReplyDeleteThe aircraft manufacturers calculate passenger fatalities as statistics ... ?
ReplyDeleteHard to say, it was more than twenty years ago, more like thirty or so, most likely weathered into a strip somewhere waiting on a helicopter, and it was of his early work, the 80's I think. Things were different too, there was still a lot more fly by the seat of the pants then, not so much reliance on electronics. What I retain of it today is the aircraft manufacturers would calculate passenger fatalities as a cost of doing business, not unlike Jet-A. They were willing to put an aircraft into production, into service, with a known catastrophic failure.
It was Michael Crichton, you could feel the vibration ...
Can anyone tell me how many have died so far from this Max plane? Maybe it's just over-news but it seems to have quite a body count going for it.
ReplyDeletew3ski
w3ski, 346 people, to date.
ReplyDelete