OT: Another I can't believe this with a Boeing 737

[trader_4]

Trying to land on some runways causes the Boeing 737's control screens to go black

That sure doesn't make one feel confident in Boeing planes either.

[Ed Pawlowski]

I don't understand this line from the article. . . "The FAA has ordered Boeing to fix its software."

Why would a responsible company have to be ordered? I'd think they would want it fixed quickly once discovered. People want less regulation but there certainly times it is needed.

[dpb]

They don't. But, it's the FAA's mandate to issue such.

[Ben Dover]

Boing outsources the navigation software to SloppyCode LLC.

Sloppycode's programmers intentionally add bugs to the software so the airlines will have to purchase Sloppycode's overpriced maintenance agreements (cha-ching cha-ching).

Then, once a quarter or so, SloppyCode publishes an update that contains bug fixes and some more new bugs.  It's a never ending con that started before MS-DOS.

[Ed Pawlowski]

That won't last long. Once Biden gets the coal minders coding there will be no more nonsense.

[rbowman]

That is an editorial comment by the literacy challenged Cory Doctorow. Had he read and comprehended the referenced AD he would have found that it is a directive to revise the AFM to prohibit the selection of certain runways at seven airports in the world by aircraft with unpatched software.

"The FAA has confirmed that the faulty version of DEU software has already been removed from all airplanes conducting scheduled airline service into the affected airports. This AD is intended to address unscheduled diversions and Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) flights into the affected airports. This condition, if not addressed, could prevent continued safe flight and landing."

Doctorow (no relation to E. L. Doctorow) is a science fiction author who sometimes tries to write non-fiction with mixed success.

[Clare Snyder]

Appears THIS time it wasn't a boeing problem - unless they built the missile

[micky]

If it weren't for the threat of lawsuits, people would be 20 times as negligent.

But there are still plenty things going wrong and reasonable regulation solves some of that.

[micky]

When automation was lowering the number of men needed in the mill, Bethlehem Steel in Baltimore, transferred some men from the mill to be computer programmers.

Unfortunately I got there too late to know for sure which ones they were, and I didn't know the quality of anyone's work anyhow.

They tended to hire contractors like me for some of the new projects and had employees doing other new projects and maintaining old ones.