The crash, which is similar to that of Lion Air in October, has prompted several countries to ban the aircraft in question from their airspace.
Boeing, the US-based manufacturer of the 737 Max 8 involved in the crash, has rolled out a software update in response to the two crashes, it said Tuesday.
At the heart of the controversy surrounding the 737 MAX is MCAS or the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation system. To fit the MAX's larger, more fuel-efficient engines, Boeing had to redesign the way it mounts engines on the 737. This change disrupted the plane's center of gravity and caused the MAX to have a tendency to tip its nose upward during flight, increasing the likelihood of a stall. MCAS is designed to automatically counteract that tendency and point the nose of the plane downward.
Unfortunately, initial reports from the Lion Air investigation indicate that a faulty sensor reading may have triggered MCAS shortly after the flight took off.For the past several months and in the aftermath of Lion Air Flight 610, Boeing has been developing a flight control software enhancement for the 737 MAX, designed to make an already safe aircraft even safer.
Still, Boeing's statement has done little to calm fears of global air travel regulators around the world.
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