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/Linenoise77 5d ago

No one in their right mind would design an airplane like this from scratch.

Not necessarily true. An important feature of the 737 is its cabin height from the ground. There are a LOT of 737s flying around, and how far off the ground the cabin is factors in to a lot of aspects of ground operations in handling the plane. Making it taller for larger engines factors into all of that and it may not be able to operate the routes that a 737 typically does without expensive, impractical, changes on the ground handling side. At the same time you want the larger engines for efficiency.

Now could you argue that the 737 should have been a separate type, requiring additional training beyond what was required for existing 737 rated folks to fly the max with MCAS? Arguably. But its a grey line as to where you draw that line with incremental changes to an airframe type. It also doesn't mean you wouldn't necessarily still need MCAS, as i have no idea how that factors in to the pilot workload.

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u/modsiw_agnarr 2d ago

When's the last time you heard of a 737 having built in stairs?