So, the US/FAA finally got the message. Available radar data publicly available indicated that the Ethiopian Airliner experienced control problems immediately after takeoff from Addis Ababa Airport. The experienced pilot radioed to control asking for a return vector and permission to land the aircraft immediately. The plane was then lost to ground radar as it plunged into the ground after less than 4 minutes of flight time. All aboard died in the crash.
Why did the FAA delay grounding of the Boeing aircraft around the US where the popular center aisle-aircraft is in use with major domestic carriers United/Continental, Southwest, and others. Hmmmm. Too cozy with the White House? No guts in the FAA? This is a shocking decision that placed many American lives at stake. Countries around the world did not need flight data recorder information to make the call. They were told about the Lion Airways crash in a similar situation 5 months ago. Result: system wide groundings in Europe and in most other nations. Our FAA failed miserably. It is telling that Boeing, the world leader in manufacturing aircraft for the commercial market did not make the request for grounding on their own.
Shame on Boeing's leadership. Shame on Boeing's engineers. Shame, shame on the record keepers. This is an unvarnished assault on the reputation of American industry. All other aviation experts should chastise this breech of integrity by the world leader. It proves the point: profits over lives.
Shame on Boeing; shame on the FAA.
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