What could've happened to this plane?

[Captain Blood]

A brand-new plane, three months out of the factory, crashes. The flight before the people complained that it didn't keep a constant altitude and was like riding a roller coaster. I know there are many aviation enthusiasts and pilots on here. What do you think the culprit is?

Lion Air crash: Indonesia to inspect Boeing 737-Max 8 planes http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-46035609

Sounds like perhaps the pitot tubes were covered, I know there was one crash attributed to groundcrew putting tape on the pitot tubes to perform maintenance and forgetting to untape them.

[Ross61]

Pitot tube had crap in it, plane thought it was in a stall condition, applied more throttle, and dropped its nose to gain speed.

(Clogged pitot tube allowed the static port to "think" the aircraft was at a much higher altitude than it was.)

[Germanauto]

My pops is a senior engineer in an aerospace firm. Every time some plane crashes he reaffirms that it's due to pilot or maintenance error. And he's right every time.

Statistically speaking, these aircraft are engineered and built to the highest standards. The amount of quality control is mind boggling.

[TomHudson]

Originally Posted by Ross61

Pitot tube had crap in it, plane thought it was in a stall condition, applied more throttle, and dropped its nose to gain speed.

(Clogged pitot tube allowed the static port to "think" the aircraft was at a much higher altitude than it was.)

Didn’t this happen to a South American flight when the maintenance crew left tape over the tube and forgot to remove it. Plane went down, killing everyone.

[Wolf 335]

I can't wrap my head around the fact that one pitot tube could crash the plane.

Are there no secondary devices to compensate a failed tube, or additional pitot tubes?

I am not in aerospace field so I'm sure that I'm missing something here.

[DDD31]

Originally Posted by Wolf 335

I can't wrap my head around the fact that one pitot tube could crash the plane.

Are there no secondary devices to compensate a failed tube, or additional pitot tubes?

I am not in aerospace field so I'm sure that I'm missing something here.

Boeing 737 Max 8 has 3 independent pitot/static systems: one for the captain, one for the first officer and one standby system.

[Captain Blood]

https://apnews.com/604a05fcae5f460abdc5fe19ebe6da74
Divers recover jet flight recorder from Indonesia seafloor

I still think it's a pitot tube issue, or some other maintenance issue.
Not suicide or a CRM issue

[Wolf 335]

So say all 3 pitot tubes were covered with something during maintenance, is there no check for these items prior to flight?

Is there no secondary instrumentation as a fail safe?

[Captain Blood]

Originally Posted by Wolf 335

So say all 3 pitot tubes were covered with something during maintenance, is there no check for these items prior to flight?

Is there no secondary instrumentation as a fail safe?

Something similar happened to an Air France a340. The pitot tubes froze up (?) and gave the pilots unreliable readings. And it crashed in the mid Atlantic

[******]

So, it was all ball bearings, then just like that it was all pitot tubes... smh...

(Ok, ok, possibly not appropriate}

[Captain Blood]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerope...03?wprov=sfti1 https://maps.apple.com/?ll=-12.03333...AAAAAABgU8A%3D

[DDD31]

Originally Posted by Wolf 335

So say all 3 pitot tubes were covered with something during maintenance, is there no check for these items prior to flight?

Is there no secondary instrumentation as a fail safe?

During a pre-flight walk around you look at all the pitot tubes and static ports to make sure they’re uncovered and not damaged. As I said in an earlier post the 737 has 3 independent pitot/static systems, it is highly unlikely that all 3 systems were screwed up. Even if all 3 systems are reading incorrectly there is a QRH (quick reference handbook carried in airplane) procedure for flying the airplane safely. The QRH procedure instructs you to set a pitch and power which will give you a set airspeed and ability to maintain your altitude.

[DDD31]

Originally Posted by Real Dodger

Something similar happened to an Air France a340. The pitot tubes froze up (?) and gave the pilots unreliable readings. And it crashed in the mid Atlantic

True but the pilots had the side stick fully aft and the aircraft was in a stalled condition all the way down to the ocean. If they would have broken the stall, they would have recovered positive control of the aircraft and prevented the crash.

[Sea-Tac]

I suspect it was a basic maintenance issue that was overlooked or just not performed to perhaps cut costs.

[lemetier]

Given the tiny amount of info available so far, my suspicion is towards an Alpha Vane issue and/or ADM fault related to the Alpha Vane input value(s) as the trigger that lead to the beginning of the accident sequence.

Pitot-Static problems do not cause airplanes to crash. Failure to fly the plane and correctly troubleshoot the problem does.

[Dang3r]

Low cost airlines are often hiring low experienced pilots and this could be the result of it. Pay peanuts, get monkeys.
Even if Alpha Vanes' reacting, you need someone whos be able to respond correctly.

[formeraudiguy]

aircraft apparently had issues (undefined) prior to this flight. Suspect maintenance problem. Ground maintenance varies considerably with each carrier.

Be assured that manufacturer will be on top of this.

These aircraft are built to highest standards
and their history from manufacture to their end are tracked and documented.

[Captain Blood]

Lion Air crash: Jet had airspeed problems on final four flights http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-46094495

I wonder if the pilots on the doomed flight knew about the previous problems?

[IanMan]

There is a common flaw associated with the 737 and that is a rudder reversal defect which leads to a single point of failure. It likely contributed to this crash. More info here:

http://airlinesafety.com/faq/B-737Ru...h0dyFgVqMnj-hc

[Captain Blood]

Originally Posted by IanMan

There is a common flaw associated with the 737 and that is a rudder reversal defect which leads to a single point of failure. It likely contributed to this crash. More info here:

http://airlinesafety.com/faq/B-737Ru...h0dyFgVqMnj-hc

It may have contributed, but would not be the main contributor.
That wouldn't be responsible for 4 flights suffering from airspeed indicator problems.

[IanMan]

Originally Posted by Real Dodger

It may have contributed, but would not be the main contributor.
That wouldn't be responsible for 4 flights suffering from airspeed indicator problems.

I have many friends that are experienced pilots who believe it was the contributing factor. And I didn't say anything about the indicator issues.

[******]

Originally Posted by IanMan

I have many friends that are experienced pilots who believe it was the contributing factor. And I didn't say anything about the indicator issues.

How would rudder control cause a sudden drop in altitude? I don’t get that. I could see how it could cause a crash trying to land, or a spin maybe, but not just suddenly going straight down.