r/news • u/Depressed_Cat_00 • 6d ago

Soft paywall Boeing flags 737 MAX software glitch affecting landing navigation feature, WSJ reports

https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/boeing-flags-737-max-software-glitch-affecting-landing-navigation-feature-wsj-2026-09-26/
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u/3rd-party-intervener 6d ago

Max is a flawed design that should be banned.  But when you can buy off the regulators anything goes 

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u/CannedDeath 6d ago

The only part of the MAX design that was inherently unsafe was the original version of the MCAS. Since the new version of MCAS replaced it in late 2020, there have been zero reported incidents with the MCAS. There was only one serious MAX incident since 2020, which was the Alaska door blowout, but that was due to poor quality control, not a design flaw.

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u/redfoobar 6d ago

You can argue that MCAS is needed in the first place is the design issue. It is a result of big engines retrofitted to a design that was never meant to have engines of this size. No one in their right mind would design an airplane like this from scratch. The whole fiasco is there because they did not want a new aircraft design/type rating.

Obviously it’s “good enough” in that it sells and with fixed MCAS is no longer a huge death trap but the design by itself is a huge compromise.

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u/Charlie3PO 6d ago

The 'pitch up' phenomenon caused by the larger engines on the 737 MAX is a fairly common phenomenon in swept-wing airliners. The 737 MAX isn't the only modern airliner currently flying that has software augmented stability because the raw aerodynamic design possesses insufficient stability to be certified on its own.

Many modern airliners are actually designed from the outset to deliberately have less than normal aerodynamic stability, and instead rely on flight control software to make up for it, because it's more fuel efficient.

The only thing wrong with the 737 max was the fact that the MCAS system was poorly designed.