I am trying to book a flight that will be on an A320 NEO.
Does this have any 'new' systems or features, like the MAX MCAS system?
I'm asking this question also because one airline has just grounded it's NEOs...
$\begingroup$
$\endgroup$
-
2$\begingroup$ If you’re concerned about safety, I’d recommend to look for adequately trained crew and a positive safety culture in the company with much higher priority than for aircraft type. Admittedly, it’s very difficult to get these insights as a passenger. $\endgroup$ – Cpt Reynolds Apr 30 '19 at 18:55
-
5$\begingroup$ Which airline 'has just grounded its NEOs'? I can only find reports of airline grounding specific aircraft due to issues with their Pratt & Whitney engines, and these reports go back over several months. Do you have a link? $\endgroup$ – CatchAsCatchCan Apr 30 '19 at 19:27
-
1$\begingroup$ @ReddHerring Exactly, and all of the NEOs use those engines. The engines are simply unsafe in their current state... indiatoday.in/fyi/story/… $\endgroup$ – Cloud May 1 '19 at 11:00
-
$\begingroup$ @cloud the article you link to actually says that there are two different engines for NEOs... $\endgroup$ – jcaron May 1 '19 at 11:21
-
2$\begingroup$ I think the "grounded its neos" comment may be a misunderstanding of this news item about IndiGo grounding one of its A320neos for a hard landing inspection. Nothing to do with the safety of the type. $\endgroup$ – Dan Hulme May 1 '19 at 22:16
$\begingroup$
$\endgroup$
Different airplanes, different systems; however, all modern airliners have computer assisted flight controls to some degree. These include stall protection of various types, of which Boeing's MCAS is one. Airbus uses different methods of stall protection, but there's still a computer involved.
Do you need to worry about the same issue? No. Part of Boeing's problem was that they didn't tell people about their system and pilots weren't trained. Had the pilots known about the system and how to disable it, the crashes probably would have been avoided.
-
$\begingroup$ There are many who argue (and at least one sort of successfully completed flight providing some evidence) that even with the then-current Boeing 737 MAX level of system knowledge, a total loss of control was not inevitable in the scenarios in question. $\endgroup$ – Cpt Reynolds Apr 30 '19 at 19:31
-
$\begingroup$ Downvoting for accident speculation. Your "had the pilots known" speculation even disagrees with the timeline presented by the preliminary report about the second (Ethiopian) crash. It seems that the pilots knew about the system and how to disable it, and they did, but were still not able to regain control of the aircraft. $\endgroup$ – Dan Hulme May 1 '19 at 8:46
