Is The 737 Max Jinxed?

[ToraToraTora]

https://news.sky.com/story/alaska-airlines-blowout-170-planes-grounded-after-dramatic-mid-air-incident-on-new-aircraft-stuns-aviation-experts-13043399

I am not generally superstitious but I'm starting to think that there is something fundementally wrong with this plane. I ain't getting on one!

[Prudie]

Nor will I now. I probably wouldn't have before with the previous issues but now this is surely the final straw.

[mushroom25]

// I ain't getting on one! //

similar has been said about other aircraft. in 1980, not the nine o clock news' Ronald Reagan song contained the couplet

#I believe Colonel Sanders can fry, and that pigs and even DC10s can fly....... #

[Prudie]

Yes and DC10s crashed repeatedly and killed lots of people before they finally got it right. I don't think we do things that way anymore, if we do I wouldn't want to be part of the journey.

[douglas9401]

Not jinxed, it's flawed, faulty, poorly designed or needs a re-work on the basics.

[davebro3]

Good news for Airbus I suppose!

[ToraToraTora]

Yeah I remember the DC10 issue, bolts failed holding the wings on if I remember rightly.

[237SJ]

The problem with the DC10 (otherwise known as Death Chance 10) was with the bolts on the  hold doors.  They failed and the doors flew open and peeled the aircraft open like a tin can.

[ToraToraTora]

ah, knew it was something to do with bolts!

[Old_Geezer]

I dunno, you get folks some fresh air and all they can do is complain !

[retrocop]

Nobody wanted to fly on our early Comets. They had a poor reputationfor falling out the sky.

[237SJ]

The Comets had square windows which put strain on the rivets if I remember (not that I was around at the time)

[bhg481]

sharp corners lead to cracks, hence the comet's windows being replaced by round ones. If you have a crack running in plastic/fibreglass etc the cure is to drill a hole at the end of the crack.

[theshedman]

Preferred the Tristar L10-11 myself to the DC10 the doors went inwards on them and it was a lovely aircraft to fly on.  Been on the new 737 max a couple of times so far and found it quite good.

[mushroom25]

// knew it was something to do with bolts! //

the hold door issue was due to poor design - after AA96 lost its door over Windsor Ontario modifications were created but no airworthiness directive was issued due to a cosy relationship between the FAA and Mcdonnell Douglas. the result was the modification wasn't mandated, leading to the loss of Turkish 981 in 1973, at the time the worst loss of life in a single aircraft incident.

AA191 lost one of its engines at Chicago in 1979 because the bolts holding the engine assembly to the wing failed. it wasn't the fault of the bolts per-se but as a result of a flawed maintenance procedure devised by the airline - it saved 15 hours of work but rendered the wing/engine pylon assembly liable to serious damage if the engineers weren't really careful. this incident aso uncovered serious deficiencies in the control surface hydraulic system - had these defeciencies not been there, the loss of the engine would not have led to the loss of the aircraft.

[Deskdiary]

How would you know your flight was going to be in one? Unless it was an A380 or a 747, I would not have a clue what plane I'm be sitting on until I read the emergency card in the seatback pocket.

Are you saying that if, at the gate, you found out the plane was a 737 Max that you'd refuse to board? 

[ToraToraTora]

DD you can ask the airline what planes they have and then get a good idea of whoich one you will get before you book. It's not 100% so yes you may have to make that choice nearer boarding.

[jno]

you could check what planes the airline of your choice actually operates.

[Hopkirk]

Sorry theshedman, but the L1011s cargo doors opened outwards, just like the DC10.

Passenger doors on all aircraft that I know of open inwards. On some they then swivel and are pushed outside, but not on the L1011.

 

[theshedman]

Hopkirk, I was talking about the L10-11s passenger doors which went inwards and then up inside the fuselage, not in then outwards as in most aircraft.  

[Hopkirk]

The DC10 and 767 also go upwards.