China orders its airlines to suspend use of Boeing 737 Max aircraft
People seem to think this is a political move by the China, which may be true, but this is actually what they're supposed to do. According to the article, 96 737 MAX jets are operated by Chinese airlines, and the aircraft appears to be racking up a questionable safety record.<p>I wouldn't put faith in the FAA to be beyond political influence and crack down on an American manufacturer quickly.<p>Lauda Air flight 004 [0] crashed in 1991 after inadvertent thrust reverser deployment mid-flight, which were not secured with positive locks since Boeing deemed this to be impossible. The FAA accepted Boeing's tests at face value. Regardless, Boeing insisted this would be a survivable event - it wasn't until Niki Lauda (airline's founder) insisted Boeing issue a statement to the contrary or to perform a test flight with him and two pilots attempting a deliberate reverse thrust deployment mid-flight. Boeing relented and acknowledged the defect.<p>The more groups looking at aviation safety, the better.<p>[0] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauda_Air_Flight_004" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauda_Air_Flight_004</a>