Nairobi, Kenya, Boeing issued a press release
detailing that the M.C.A.S. system does not
control the airplane in normal flight, and can be
overridden by pilots inside the aircraft.
It was later reported that the pilots of Flight 302
had followed Boeing’s guidance on how to
do so, although their attempts to override the
automated system were to no avail. It was too
late for not only the people on board, but also
aviation authorities all over the world. Following
Ethiopia, China and many European countries,
by March 13, when President Trump said
the U.S. would follow suit and ground the
aircraft, the Boeing 737 MAX and its M.C.A.S.
system were grounded across the globe.
This brings us back to the technological
conundrum. If we have reached the point at
which a battle for control between human and
computer can become a life-or-death situation,
then how much control should technology
really have over humanity?
PHILOSOPHY AND FUNCTIONALITY
For some time, Boeing has been at the very
top of the aviation industry, alongside Airbus.
Historically, computers aboard Boeing aircraft
had been in place to aid the pilot, as opposed
to completely taking control. Contrastingly,
Airbus, which has a somewhat shorter past
as a manufacturer of aircraft, has historically
designed its computers to oversee pilot
decisions and even take over if required.
Boeing’s M.C.A.S. system failures during these
two air crashes represent the first instances of
its own computer system working against the
pilot. The same faulty ‘angle of attack’ sensor
Image: Sean Rayford