Airbus: Self-Flying Plane Just Completed Successful Taxi, Take-Off, and Landing Tests
July 27th, 2020When Boeing’s undocumented Magic-8 Ball failed: Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System:
MCAS activated by input from only one of the airplane’s two angle of attack sensors, making the system susceptible to a single point of failure. It could not be instinctively disabled by pulling on the control yoke. During aircraft certification, Boeing removed a description of MCAS in the MAX flight manuals, leaving pilots unaware of the system when the airplane entered service.
On November 10, 2018, Boeing publicly revealed MCAS in a discussion with airline operators and other aviation interests twelve days after Lion Air Flight 610 crashed. Yet, a recovery procedure highlighted by Boeing and the FAA failed to prevent the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, which led to the global grounding of all 737 MAX aircraft pending investigations and software fixes.
Via: Business Insider:
The European manufacturer just completed flight testing for its Autonomous Taxi, Take-off, and Landing project in June after its flagship aircraft successfully navigated each phase of flight on its own as pilots simply watched.
Over 500 flights were conducted with the new Airbus A350-1000 XWB that successfully utilised “image recognition technology” to essentially give the plane a pair of eyes. The technology, integrated with the A350’s exterior cameras, allowed it to perform the phases of flight entirely on its own, Airbus announced.
