Observations from my flight in a 737 MAX

[IK04]

Now that all the news is about the 737 Max aircraft, I recall my recent flight on one had some very interesting observations.

As I was on the jetbridge, just outside the door, there was the usual holdup from somebody with a roller bag that was too big and we were stuck outside in the rain waiting. I noticed one of the pilots and the ground crew were all hovering around the AOA vanes on the left side of the aircraft.

They were looking very closely at the area around the left side of the nose of the airplane and were mentioning that "these new ones" had more AOA vanes on the right side of the aircraft. The pilot was mentioning several acronyms, but I couldn't hear him clearly with all of the noise.

They all seemed very concerned and careful to keep people away from the area, since it is so close to the door and the jetbridge platform.

Since then, I have flown out of Houston IAH and I noticed that anyone could reach over and touch the AOA vane on the ERJ we were forced to fly on (I really don't like being crushed into a seat sized for a munchkin).

Has there been speculation about the AOA devices being defective in the crashes of the two 737 Max airplanes? It seems crew training has been the big focus...

 

[flyingron]

If it was American the real problem with the MAX8 is that these are the new tighter packed configurations where AA tries to raise profits by making the passengers want to fly other airlines.

 

[FlySince9]

Has there been speculation about the AOA devices being defective in the crashes of the two 737 Max airplanes? It seems crew training has been the big focus...

FAA said the administration was reversing course based on "the data gathering process and new evidence collected at the site."

 

[kayoh190]

American's MAX-8s only have one AOA vane on each side of the nose. Someone here mentioned SWA started ordering them with a second one on the right side - maybe that's what the pilots were talking about.

 

[Kenny Phillips]

American's MAX-8s only have one AOA vane on each side of the nose. Someone here mentioned SWA started ordering them with a second one on the right side - maybe that's what the pilots were talking about.

Three-of-a-kind sensors beats a pair, any day; then the system has a greater likelihood of getting usable data.

 

[Kenny Phillips]

If it was American the real problem with the MAX8 is that these are the new tighter packed configurations where AA tries to raise profits by making the passengers want to fly other airlines.

Given the crazy hub-and-spoke and major hubs moving about crap of the last few years, unless one wishes to drive quite a ways, one is stuck with what the local jetport offers. In my case, I'm only ten minutes farther from KDAY than KLUK, and choose the former over the latter when financially beneficial.

 

[flyingron]

Yeah, 9/10 I'm stuck on AA because CLT is a hub.

 

[asicer]

Three-of-a-kind sensors beats a pair, any day; .

Does adding two pitot tubes make it a full house?

 

[IK04]

I usually get an upgrade into first on the AA E-190 out of my home airport. Nice!

 

[kayoh190]

I usually get an upgrade into first on the AA E-190 out of my home airport. Nice!

Those 190 pilots are rockstars!

 

[wsuffa]

If it was American the real problem with the MAX8 is that these are the new tighter packed configurations where AA tries to raise profits by making the passengers want to fly other airlines.

And that's part of the reason for the passengers screaming to ground the things. On the AA passenger forums that was a loud drumbeat to ground them, and much of it was because of the sardine can, not safety.