For relatives of the Lion Air crash, Boeing’s return is a source of raw memories Business and Economics

Medan, Indonesia – When Indonesia announced a Boeing 737 Max flight in its airspace after a nearly three-year ban, Anton Sahadi’s memories of the Lion Air 610 flight were overwhelmed.

“I was a little surprised when I found out that the ban was lifted,” said Anton Sahadi, whose wife lost two 24-year-old cousins. On October 29, 2018, the planes crashed into the Java Sea, said Al Jazeera.

“I don’t see why it should have happened so soon when we’re in mourning.”

The Indonesian Ministry of Transport authorized the Boeing 737 Max to fly at the end of last month, following an in-depth review of the aircraft and some improvements suggested by the Indonesian National Transportation Safety Commission.

The Lion Air crash, which killed 189 people aboard the ship, and the Ethiopian Airlines crash five months later. It landed 737 Max aircraft around the world and lowered Boeing’s share price. Indonesia was one of the last countries to allow the plane to fly again after the bans were lifted United States, China, India, Europe, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan and Australia.

Sahadi learned that there was a problem with the Lion Air 610 flight from a line of text at the bottom of a program he was watching on Indonesian TV on October 29, 2018.

The latest news was that 610 flights lost contact with air traffic control 13 minutes after a flight from Jakarta to Pangkal Pinang in Bangka-Belitung Islands.

“My wife was in Mecca in Saudi Arabia at the time and it was she who told me that her cousins ​​Riyan Aryandi and Ravi Andrian were on the same plane at the same time,” Sahadi said, as he described it. he drove blindly to Soekarno Hatta International Airport in Jakarta, breaking the speed limit and arriving in record time.

“At one point, I saw a copy of the manifesto and I knew it was true that they were on the plane.”

The cause of the accident was unclear until the March 30, 2019 Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 crashed on its way from Addis Ababa to Kenya, killing 157 people on board. Flight 302 was also a 737 Max.

The Lion Air accident report the blame for the crash, which he posted almost a year ago, was a direct indication of the design of the aircraft.

“After our investigation, we found that there were several vulnerabilities that needed to be addressed, most notably with MCAS,” Surjanto, head of Indonesia’s National Transportation Security Commission (NTSC), told Al Jazeera.

MCAS, or Maneuvering Features, is a flight stabilization program implemented in the latest Boeing 737 Max models.

“If a plane went into a stopover, the system would automatically prevent the stop from happening,” Surjanto said. “The purpose of the system was good, but its weakness was that it did not clearly indicate to the pilots what was going on and this caused confusion.”

During Flight Lion Air 610, a sensor on the outside of the aircraft indicated that the aircraft’s nose was too high and that the aircraft was in danger of stopping. This forced the nose of the aircraft down and forced MCAS to avoid a possible stop.

Unsure of what was going on, the pilots searched the aircraft’s manual for a way to steer the plane’s route before it fell into the Java Sea.

Ravi Andrian Lion is among the 189 people killed in Flight 610 Air Flight [Courtesy of Anton Sahadi]

Sujanto, the head of the NTSC, said that cleaning a plane to fly again after an accident required strict controls and procedures.

“Several upgrades have been made to the flight software and pilot training to ensure that as much as possible is done to ensure the safety of the 737 Max aircraft,” he said.

Ethiopian Airlines has announced that it will lift its ban in February 2022.

A Boeing spokesman told Al Jazeera that Indonesia’s decision was an “important milestone” in the safe return of the 737 MAX to Indonesia.

“Boeing continues to work with regulators and our customers to return the aircraft to service worldwide.”

The aircraft manufacturer says on its website that the MCAS has been updated to “operate only in unusual flight conditions and is now based on two sensors, only activated once and never exceeds the ability of pilots to control the aircraft.”

‘Skeptical or fearful’

It is not yet clear how Indonesian customers will react to the return of the aircraft, which also depends on airlines complying with government-mandated airworthiness regulations.

“Even if 737 Max is considered safe, there are likely to be people who are still skeptical or scared,” Jakarta aviation expert Gerry Soejatman told Al Jazeera.

Prior to the ban, Indonesian national carrier Garuda operated only one 737 Max aircraft, but has already stated that it has no plans to re-use it after a debt restructuring exercise that will reduce its current fleet from 142 to 66.

Lion Air uses 10,737 Max aircraft and, according to Soejatman, leaves the team with little choice but to continue flying or launch the entire fleet.

“It will take time, or time for people to leave in fear, or time to return the plane to the landlord,” he said.

For the families of the victims, like Sahadi, doubts remain. While Ravi’s body was identified after the accident, Riyan’s remains were never found.

“That was tough. We couldn’t bury him, “Sahadi said. “I hope the government will check everything carefully and put all the proper procedures in place first.”

“I hope they don’t risk their lives for the sake of the business.”