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Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by janice1999 on Friday January 05, 2024 @01:47PM (#38882914)
I hope one day engineering students will study the MAX 7 and learn from the Boeing culture that has killed at least 346 people so far. So many issues (and related cover-ups) stem from the massive compromises made so Boeing could quickly launch a flawed modified plane instead of a new design because Airbus scared their management.
Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by consumer451 on Friday January 05, 2024 @02:37PM (#38883691)
> I hope one day engineering students will study the MAX 7 and learn from the Boeing culture that has killed at least 346 people so far

I would hope that is also taught in management schools, as they appear to be the ones making these decisions.

Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by hughesjj on Friday January 05, 2024 @04:00PM (#38884866)
Which is why we can't let Boeing get away with this anti social behavior, lest the lesson they learn be 'oh no one cares and there's no consequences '
Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by quickthrower2 on Saturday January 06, 2024 @05:17AM (#38890175)
Don’t let the people working at boeing responsible for these decisions get away with it.
Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by quickthrower2 on Saturday January 06, 2024 @05:17AM (#38890168)
Just don’t think the distant echos of an ethics class will win vs. threat of getting fired for not maximising profit.
Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by dschiavu on Monday January 08, 2024 @09:11AM (#38912124)
The same MBA-ization of Boeing has been happening in other companies as well, including in the IT sector. Seriously, how can we allow non-engineers to lead aerospace or tech companies at all?
Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by CoastalCoder on Friday January 05, 2024 @02:18PM (#38883398)
> I hope one day engineering students will study the MAX 7 and learn from the Boeing culture that has killed at least 346 people so far.

I fear that wouldn't matter, because they could end up working (indirectly) for stockholders that find that dollar-to-lives tradeoff desireable.

Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by medler on Friday January 05, 2024 @11:32PM (#38888449)
The idea of the ethics training is that you as an engineer don’t do the unethical work, even if stockholders want it
Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by pengaru on Friday January 05, 2024 @02:16PM (#38883356)
Same, and I wonder if it'll share a chapter with Tesla's prematurely shipped autonomous features, related deaths, and the dishonest messaging surrounding it.

Considering the MCAS[0] failures were largely software defects in an autonomous system, seems plausible to me...

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maneuvering_Characteristics_Au...

Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by brandonagr2 on Friday January 05, 2024 @02:35PM (#38883661)
What are you talking about, Tesla doesn't ship any autonomous features. Driver assist features do not make a car autonomous. Tesla has always plainly said you must monitor the car at all times autopilot is engaged, the exact same way that turning on cruise control in any other car doesn't make the car autonomous even though the car is managing the speed.
Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by VintageCool on Friday January 05, 2024 @03:25PM (#38884390)
Quite right old chap! Surely no reasonable consumer would interpret terms like "Autopilot" or "Full Self Driving" to mean that the car autonomously drives itself!
Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by twaw on Saturday January 06, 2024 @03:04AM (#38889488)
You can lookup "autopilot" definition in a dictionary
Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by pengaru on Friday January 05, 2024 @02:48PM (#38883857)
> What are you talking about, Tesla doesn't ship any autonomous features. Driver assist features do not make a car autonomous. Tesla has always plainly said you must monitor the car at all times autopilot is engaged, the exact same way that turning on cruise control in any other car doesn't make the car autonomous even though the car is managing the speed.

What are you talking about?

What Tesla markets and sells falls into SAE Autonomous Ground Vehicle classifications, just not level 5.

Nothing I wrote spoke to anything Tesla sells being L5 (or any particular level at all).

Edit: On the topic of MCAS, it strikes me as a system akin to around an SAE L2/L3, overriding pilot inputs to prevent a perceived crash/stall risk. This AIUI is well within the autonomy space Teslas operate...

Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by sebzim4500 on Friday January 05, 2024 @07:40PM (#38887030)
In the case of Tesla they make the argument that the safety features have saved far more than they have injured/killed. Inexplicably, there is no federal agency that actually checks these things.

In this case I don't see how you could make the same argument, clearly the new planes were not safer than the old ones or they wouldn't have been grounded.

Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by tw04 on Friday January 05, 2024 @10:18PM (#38888051)
Based on my experience with Tesla’s autonomous driving software, there is no planet on which that’s true. It is quite literally worse than anyone I can imagine driving unless they’re high, drunk, texting, and doing 30+mph over the speed limit. I’ve come across an unfortunate number of drunk drivers in my time on this earth driving and I can say I’ve never once seen or heard of a drunk slamming on their brakes at 70mph because of a tree shadow across the road. I’ve personally experienced and seen someone else’s Tesla do it on multiple occasions.

I can anticipate and avoid a drunk driver in many situations. I’d never expect that behavior out of any human driver.

Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by spookie on Saturday January 06, 2024 @12:04AM (#38888600)
And yet one sees people talking the fearure up all day on the internet, as if it's safer than human drivers. When I see such comments, I seriously question if they've ever driven a car and came across a Tesla in "self-driving" mode.

Just to add to the conversation a bit more: Humans give away their intentions in more ways than turn signals, as a human you subconsciously know what the other is trying to do, just by watching. It's difficult to explain, and you gotta have driven a car to understand.

These self-driving vehicles aren't even close to mimicking that aspect. Leading us, humans on the road, a bit more clueless on what's going on.

Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by oska on Saturday January 06, 2024 @02:50AM (#38889414)
> I’d never expect that behavior out of any human driver.

People will slam on the brakes when they see an animal run out on the road. It's generally considered better driving practice to not do that, as you risk rear end collisions, but that behaviour from humans does exist.

Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by ffgjgf1 on Saturday January 06, 2024 @04:08AM (#38889830)
That’s hardly comparable
Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by ascorbic on Saturday January 06, 2024 @03:25AM (#38889632)
I had a Tesla with FSD which I never used again after it pulled out in front of another car on the motorway. Only me grabbing control and pulling us back into lane prevented us being rear-ended. My inferior human reactions were enough for that. Even the regular autopilot lane-keeping was useless on anything except nice neat roads with painted lanes, and it did several frightening phantom emergency stops, luckily all at low speed.

That said, my current MG4 is just as bad with emergency lane-keeping, but with the added entertainment of it being on by default and needing to be disabled on every trip. Level 5 self-driving won't happen for decades.

Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by andrewaylett on Saturday January 06, 2024 @07:11AM (#38890792)
The good news is that you did what you were supposed to do. The bad news is that it would have been your responsibility if you hadn't: "FSD" doesn't detract from your responsibility to be in control of your vehicle, it merely enables your mind to wander away from the task.

I'm glad you're safe, and honestly you were set up to fail (hence the GP's point). Thank you for taking the responsible choice and not putting yourself in the same dangerous situation again.

Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by blackoil on Saturday January 06, 2024 @08:29AM (#38891257)
Don't know of legalities, but we have two different scenarios. First, I car in front stopped, driver is responsible for breaking, FSD may or may not help, driver is responsible. Second, car was going straight and decides to randomly change lane, speed up/down. Driver may be able to take mitigating steps, but car is responsible. Second case is more akin to car accelerating when break is pressed.
Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by sebzim4500 on Saturday January 06, 2024 @07:45AM (#38890983)
Fair, but humans sometimes hit the accelerator rather than the break if they have to do an emergency stop, which is an error that you would not expect a self driving car to make.

I haven't driven a Tesla, although I've been in an uber where the guy used FSD and it didn't do anything crazy. I don't think anecdotes on the internet are going to settle this, an independent body needs to work with insurers etc. to track statistics to determine which driver assistance features are helping and which are hurting.

Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by CaptainZapp on Saturday January 06, 2024 @11:01AM (#38892486)
> In the case of Tesla they make the argument that the safety features have saved far more than they have injured/killed

Except that they never provided hard data to support this argument.

Until they do that I'll consider it the usual Tesla marketing lies and bullshit.

Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by kevin_b_er on Friday January 05, 2024 @04:57PM (#38885520)
This needs to be in *management* ethics. It was the *management* that ignored warnings. The "compromises" were demanded by *management*.

Boeing is not an engineering culture, it is an MBA culture. This is the result.

It is clear, by deadly example, that Boeing *management* is not capable of running a company that produces a safe plane. It is, after all, difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.

All the engineering ethics in the world does nothing against the greed of Boeing's management.

Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by janice1999 on Friday January 05, 2024 @06:14PM (#38886362)
Agreed. I only mention engineering students as my only experience with ethics classes are in that domain. However it's still a good example for engineers, particularly how the design failures resulted in deaths, the role of whistleblowers and how disastrous self-certification can be.
Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by paledot on Friday January 05, 2024 @08:17PM (#38887288)
I would be utterly shocked if any MBA program in the world had a mandatory ethics component, for all that an unethical MBA is in a position to kill many more people than an unethical engineer.
Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by dbattaglia on Saturday January 06, 2024 @07:44AM (#38890980)
I wouldn’t be surprised if they had some ethics classes. I doubt any class is going to have instill ethics in someone who has none.
Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by numpad0 on Saturday January 06, 2024 @12:19AM (#38888661)
I've seen fiduciary duty to shareholders in publicly traded companies and how it force managers to chase unsustainable immediate gains repeated as cliche, template, criticisms in this types of topics. Privately owned companies of course aren't much different OTOH, so personally it feels to me that incentive design that rewards ethical corporate behaviors is an open question passed from the modern era to the post-modern world(or is that one label behind this one? I'm totally out of my depth).
Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by klempner on Saturday January 06, 2024 @03:01AM (#38889477)
I will remark that, excluding cases where some idiot is offering several times what the company is worth, it is rare that the fiduciary duty issue would force the management of a company to choose unsustainable immediate gains.

The value of a company's equity is based on the net present value of future returns. That means that while short term earnings are important, so are earnings in the moderately distant future. (depending on risk free interest rates)

If a company like Boeing were properly managed, they'd give suitable priority to engineering excellence, at least to the point of not having critical failures like these, because that's core to their ability to compete with Airbus/etc in the future.

The real issue you're concerned about is that it is very difficult to align the interests of corporate managers with the interests of the company. It is relatively easy to align senior management with short term stock prices, but it is difficult for the public to figure out that the gains they see (less engineering cost, faster turnaround time, etc) come at the expense of the longer term viability of the company, so the former gets priced into the short term stock price (and so executive compensation) and the latter does not.

Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by KingOfCoders on Saturday January 06, 2024 @12:33AM (#38888735)
"All the engineering ethics in the world does nothing against the greed of Boeing's management. "

Sure managers are guilty.

But managers did not write the code. "Engineers" did.

As long as there are engineers writing that code (also see VW and #Dieselgate) there will be managers who do this. Engineers need to take a stand and don't do everything. Like professionals. "He made me do it" is not an excuse for hundreds of dead people.

Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by roughly on Saturday January 06, 2024 @02:41AM (#38889364)
I generally agree that one has an ethical duty to be accountable for the output of one’s work, but I also worked with a fellow at a previous job who stuck around long after I’d pulled the chute because his daughter had a medical issue and he couldn’t risk losing insurance. It’s not always that cut and dry, and until we’ve got UBI, universal health care, and a reasonable immigration system, the blame is and must remain on the managers first and foremost.
Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by KingOfCoders on Saturday January 06, 2024 @02:59AM (#38889459)
"UBI, universal health care"

I have UBI.

Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by roughly on Saturday January 06, 2024 @02:09PM (#38894283)
You have BI. It’s not UBI until the rest of us have it, too.
Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by knifie_spoonie on Saturday January 06, 2024 @12:48AM (#38888797)
Managers are the ones with the authority to tell engineers what to do. If an engineer refuses, they'll simply be replaced with someone more pliable.

See the Challenger disaster for a high profile example.

Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by KingOfCoders on Saturday January 06, 2024 @02:04AM (#38889175)
"replaced with someone more pliable."

If I don't rob the bank, someone else will!

Yes, and then the other engineer is responsible for the dead people, not you. But if your job is more important than other peoples lifes, I guess, yes, you do as you have been told.

Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by knifie_spoonie on Saturday January 06, 2024 @05:20AM (#38890186)
"If I don't rob the bank, someone else will!"

Or maybe we stop people from trying to force others to rob banks. Nip the problem in the bud.

Why do you want to let managers get away with toxic behavior and then blame the subordinates?

Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by KingOfCoders on Saturday January 06, 2024 @06:39AM (#38890602)
Me: "Sure managers are guilty."

You: "Why do you want to let managers get away with toxic behavior."

Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by oefnak on Saturday January 06, 2024 @01:45AM (#38889082)
Okay, then that replacement should also refuse or go to jail.
Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by knifie_spoonie on Saturday January 06, 2024 @05:18AM (#38890178)
Crazy idea, but maybe the manager trying to force engineers to do these things should be held accountable.
Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by uxp8u61q on Saturday January 06, 2024 @03:06AM (#38889501)
They're just following orders, is that it?
Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by KingOfCoders on Saturday January 06, 2024 @04:56AM (#38890057)
We Germans know how to do that!
Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by knifie_spoonie on Saturday January 06, 2024 @05:22AM (#38890196)
Since when did we start apologizing for people in positions of authority forcing others to bad things?
Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by uxp8u61q on Saturday January 06, 2024 @11:29AM (#38892749)
"Forcing"? Are they holding a gun to the devs' heads and "forcing" them to implement safety circumvention features? I doubt it.
Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by tremon on Saturday January 06, 2024 @09:56AM (#38891901)
As long as writing code is not an actual engineering profession with the associated authority and liability -- no, you're wrong. The code was not written by (certified) engineers, it was written by programmers. And programmers do not have the authority to refuse their manager's orders.
Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by snakeyjake on Saturday January 06, 2024 @10:15AM (#38892068)
>And programmers do not have the authority to refuse their manager's orders.

All free people have the authority to refuse their manager's orders.

But people like money.

Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by reticulan on Saturday January 06, 2024 @11:17AM (#38892630)
They don't like money, they need it to survive (e.g. to not lose employer provided health insurance)
Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by pella on Saturday January 06, 2024 @03:47AM (#38889736)
> it is an MBA culture.

The MBA program should include more ethics courses and perhaps an adapted version of the Hippocratic Oath.

--> MBA Oath : https://mbaoath.org/

Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by nimbius on Saturday January 06, 2024 @12:02AM (#38888586)
Its not Airbus. The Chinese Comac C919 and Sukhoi SJ100 are the two main aircraft placing enormous pressure on Boeing internationally. FAA approval is a slam-dunk for them in foreign markets as it renews confidence in the brand and allows them to compete against newcomers that are arguably just as good or better than the max series of widebodies and come in at a fraction of the cost.

Boeing management --and their flat-out inability to out-innovate the competition at cost-- are the real reason behind the push to certify at all cost.

Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by throwup238 on Saturday January 06, 2024 @12:15AM (#38888636)
From Wikipedia:

Comac C919 - First flight: 2017, introduced 2023, number built: 10 (3 in service?)

Sukhoi Superjet 100 - First flight: 2008, introduced 2011, number built: 229

Boeing 737 MAX - First flight: 2016, introduced 2017, number built: 1,376

Airbus A320 NEO - First flight: 2014, introduced 2016, number built: 3,092

They're not even in the same ballpark. It'll take Comac decades to make those inroads and Sukhoi is done for.

Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by oska on Saturday January 06, 2024 @02:46AM (#38889394)
Why do you think the Sukhoi is 'done for' ?
Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by consp on Saturday January 06, 2024 @03:11AM (#38889535)
Impossibility to get parts legally due to sanctions.
Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by oska on Saturday January 06, 2024 @03:50AM (#38889752)
My understanding is that they have developed an import substitution plan for the jet and are resolved to keep producing it. [1] For instance, they are substituting the original SaM-146 engines with fully domestically produced PD-8 engines and I understand they are already, or close to testing the first prototype with the new engines (they already tested an earlier prototype with other import substitutions but which still had the old engines). [2]

[1] https://asiatimes.com/2023/09/russia-defies-sanctions-with-h...

[2] https://tass.com/economy/1699907

Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by ffgjgf1 on Saturday January 06, 2024 @04:06AM (#38889818)
> or close to testing the first prototype with the new engines

Considering that Russian engineering culture is even worse than that of Boeing (and probably massively so) it’s unlikely that they can ever be competitive if that’s the main issue

Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by sofixa on Saturday January 06, 2024 @07:37AM (#38890940)
Which begs the question, why didn't they use those engines initially? The answer is probably in their efficiency, because Russian engines are not known for that.
Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by DrNosferatu on Saturday January 06, 2024 @03:14AM (#38889561)
Also the Embraer E195-E2.
Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by rvba on Saturday January 06, 2024 @08:34AM (#38891295)
Remember that the whole country stands behind the chinese plane - they can just order their own lines to use it
Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by gmerc on Sunday January 07, 2024 @07:36AM (#38900736)
Basically like Boeing - it’s a defense asset. No difference
Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by sofixa on Saturday January 06, 2024 @07:40AM (#38890955)
That's simply untrue. The Sukhoi SJ100 is a different type of plane (<100 passenger capacity), comparable to an Embraer E190. Neither it nor the Comac C919 are "widebodies".

The C919 is a decent plane, but by most accounts a decade behind in tech and efficiency. And for short-haul operations, efficiency is the most important thing.

The only real competitor to Boeing today is Airbus. Comac can be one 10-20 years down the line.

Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by tremon on Saturday January 06, 2024 @10:11AM (#38892030)
FAA approval is a slam-dunk for them in foreign markets

FAA approval is only a slam-dunk because it is recognized internationally as a steward of quality and reliability. By asking the FAA to start certifying sub-par planes, Boeing will not only destroy their own brand but will bring the FAA down with them.

Re:Boeing wants FAA to exempt MAX 7 from safety rules to get... by barrkel on Saturday January 06, 2024 @07:02PM (#38896913)
Russia is barely able to keep its planes in the air, and you think they're a competitor?