Boeing issues safety bulletin about 737 Max airplanes

Boeing has issued a safety bulletin in response to the Lion Air crash that killed 189 people in Indonesia.

In a statement released by Boeing on Tuesday it “issued an Operations Manual Bulletin (OMB) directing operators to existing flight crew procedures to address circumstances where there is erroneous input from an AOA sensor.”

This warning, however, does not fully pinpoint an exact cause of the crash.

What happened back on October 29th, remains heartbreaking for the families of those onboard Lion Air flight 610. Just a few days ago, families went on a boat to pray for their loved ones at the crash scene in the middle of the Java Sea.

Indonesia’s search and rescue agency said they are still working to locate the cockpit voice recorder which they believe is amongst the other wreckage under the sea.

Investigators also believe before the crash, the plane had a malfunctioning Attack of Angle or AOA sensor, which tells the pilot information about proper air speed for lift. Boeing, the maker of the two-month old 737 Max plane , issued a safety bulletin directing pilots on what to do whenever there is an erroneous AOA sensor.

“Accidents have so many factors that become involved,” said aviation consultant Scott Hamilton.

According to Hamilton, despite the focus on the sensor, it should not be a cause for concern for future passengers or even considered the exact cause for the crash.

“At this point, we still don’t know enough to understand precisely what happened here. We don’t know what else happened in the cockpit yet and they haven’t recovered the cockpit voice recorder yet,” he said.

But what is surprising for Hamilton is that this happened on a plane only two months old and a sensor system that experts said really hasn’t deviated from before.

“Is it a surprise that we would see this issue coming up, yes it is. Because it’s basically based on a 20-year-old system,” said Hamilton.

Shortly after Boeing’s bulletin, the FAA, also issued a follow-up directive, mandating that the Boeing recommendations be used by pilots and carriers of the 737 Max.

The investigation continues to search for remains and to find the important cockpit voice recorder.

“We know there is something that can be done to address this particular problem now, but we don`t know yet whether this is the cause of the accident,” said Hamilton.

Reportedly, the last four flights of this plane had problems with the airspeed indicator.

Boeing released a statement saying that they are cooperating fully and providing technical assistance to investigators.