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Monday, January 14, 2019

Is Glitching The Process Or The Problem?

When something as simple as a newly installed light switch fails to turn on, it is called a "glitch". "The old one was broken that is why we bought and replaced with a new one", is a common sentiment, when in fact the circuit breaker in the garage popped off during the last power surge. The airplane manufacturer has the same problems but on a larger scale. They have a full PR team to handle glitches found on a newly built model like the 787 had way back in 2010.  The conference room geniuses needed a new word to solve the problem and it was "Teething woes".

The airplane customer AKA the airline model suffered through those same teething woes and sometimes it was not a simple fix. The big example is the 787 battery problem. It grounded the 787 Boeing product for up to three months as they did a major workaround from its garage in Washington state engineering a battery firebox and venting battery gases since the battery was only used for ground operations and not flying, but flying a burning LI battery is extremely dangerous for its passengers. They airplane could come down and suffer a complete hull loss flying over who knows where. Boeing then came up with "teething woes".

The common glitch on a new product suggests an incomplete process when building any product, especially a new one like the 787 during its entry into service back into 2011-2012. The failing new light switch in the home could be wired wrong, the part is defective, or the circuit breaker in the garage had shut off the power. It wasn't teething woes and it was the DIY guy in the home providing the simple fix imagined turning into a nightmare. The TV wouldn't power up on Superbowl Sunday and the DIY hero was over his head with a new teething woe. Never fear, the popcorn is heard but the cable truck just pulled up for the ultimate fix.

Link:

Authorities Find Cockpit Voice Recorder of Crashed Lion Air Flight 610

Here we go, Lion Airs Flight 610 has just found its voice recorder in 26 feet of mud. Once restored, it will replay the cabin's cacophony of panic in a disaster from the mud intombed device. It was still pinging thus the device could be located. It had only a few more days of pinging left in it before it went forever silent. The importance of the flight recording may assign the blame for the crash. The crew on board may have followed the wrong procedure or possibly the ground team did not validate the problem being fixed! But only validating a part replacement was used under a certain operating condition. Boeing and the others wanting a legal win for its clients will look at the flight recorder in only one context. Did the Lion Aircrew act in a professional manner which covers training, experience, and advice before it went down? Did Boeing understand an unrevealed problem could occur with the new Max under certain situations? Either way, a flight recorder will make it easier to assign final blame.

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