Ethiopia Aims to Send 737 Black Boxes to Europe in Snub to U.S.

[CatWoman]

Source: Bloomberg

Ethiopia will ask European air-safety experts to analyze black boxes from a crashed Boeing Co. jet in a sign U.S. authorities aren’t trusted to determine the cause of the disaster after ruling that the model is safe to fly.

The government hasn’t yet decided exactly where to send the data and voice recorders, though European bodies will be approached, Ethiopian Airlines, which operated the crashed 737 Max jet, said Wednesday. Germany said it won’t be taking the boxes, citing technical complications.

Authorities around the world have grounded the new version of the 737 amid concern that similarities between the African tragedy and an October crash in Indonesia could point to an inherent safety risk. That’s left the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration isolated in arguing that the Max should continue flying, challenging its standing as the industry’s leading regulator.

The choice of Europe over the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board for the analysis of the black boxes is a strategic decision for Ethiopian Airlines and the nation’s government, said Asrat Begashaw, the carrier’s public relations director. The country’s investigation is being led by the transport minister, he said by telephone.





Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-13/ethiopia-to-send-737-s-black-boxes-to-europe-in-snub-to-u-s

[Laffy Kat]

1. Good. nt

[rickyhall]

2. Good idea

Weren't all 4 9/11 black boxes "non functioning"?

[GatoGordo]

13. Well, where to go with that...

[rickyhall]

19. Its the only I remember that happening.

I still am not convinced 9/11 as the Bush Bunch said it did. Like why was the evidence in New York properly investigated.

[watoos]

3. It isn't to snub the U.S.

The civilized world doesn't trust us to do a legitimate investigation.

Every country grounded that plane, only when Canada grounded it did Boeing allow the FAA to ground ours.

[eppur_se_muova]

4. I was telling my Mom just today .... bet they go to the EU, not the US.

The impartiality of the US FAA is now suspect. 45's maladministration has tainted everything.
























(ps: Dayyum, that's a lot of black boxes!)

[GatoGordo]

16. FAA is not NTSB

Both are entirely apolitical and very professional.

The FAA just grounded all the planes in the US. The NTSB will do an analysis regardless of where the boxes first go.

All of this EU/USA business is purely political assholishness.

[eppur_se_muova]

18. But no one is going to *trust* US institutions, seeing as how 45 & cronies may have been bought...

... by Boeing ($1M to Trump's inaguration -- i.e., to the Trump Crime Family). Remember: DOT is run by Elaine Chao (who could have overruled FAA, but didn't), Mitch McConnell's wife, and 45 tried to put his private pilot in charge of the FAA, despite no relevant qualifications, AND the "temporary", acting head of the FAA is a former airline lobbyist.

There's political assholishness aplenty, but it started with 45.

[sandensea]

5. They're smart

Until we have a real president in the Oval Office again, that's probably the only good call.

As things stand now, Cheeto would most likely collect (another) bribe from Boeing - and then have the FAA conceal or misrepresent their findings to the Ethiopians.

"Nothing to see here!"

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. FAA doesn't handle accident investigations, the NTSB does

and they are probably the best in the world at it. Unfortunately nobody trusts any part of the US government any more.

[mwooldri]

6. UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is very capable.

If asked, they will assist (per the Bloomberg article).

[progree]

8. I'm sure being called a "shit hole country" has something to do with it too

We kind of forget that after awhile, but the targets of these kind of insults don't.

[SunSeeker]

9. I don't blame them for not trusting Trump's NTSB. nt

[watoos]

10. Well said, "Trump's NTSB.

If the black box went to the U.S. Boeing's CEO would have been basically in charge. The US is a fascist country.

[GatoGordo]

17. The US is a fascist country

Are we just fascist when a Republican is in the Oval Office, or all the time?

Honestly, sometimes I think I have wandered onto the RussiaToday/Sputnik forum sometimes.

[EX500rider]

21. Sure, assuming you don't know what Fascism actually is...

Definition of fascism
: a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.

[sfwriter]

11. I read this headline twice trying to figure out where hundreds of black boxes were coming from!

Then I realized it's a model 737 jet, duh.

[forgotmylogin]

12. I wish they wouldn't frame it as a "snub" though.

It's smart because we and everyone know McDonald and Boeing are tight, and that's why our planes weren't grounded immediately. It makes more sense for a neutral party/country to verify the black box data before returning it to Boeing so there's not even the whiff of an attempted coverup. Plus, the FAA's authority was compromised due to the president*s monthlong temper tantrum that may have delayed a fix for the autopilot which might have prevented the second crash.

[BlueIdaho]

14. Better they go to a country that believes in science than in the divine right of kings...

Let’s face it, America has become a corrupt kleptocracy for sale to the highest bidder.

[JGug1]

15. Snub To US

This isn't a snub to the US. Only two countries have the capabilities to analyze badly damaged "black boxes," the US and France. It makes no sense to do the examination where a POSSIBLE conflict of interest exists. This sort of thing should always be done in a manner that leads to the least concern over any conflict of interest.

[Blue_Tires]

20. It's not a "snub" to the U.S. despite what some

lazy narrative craftsmen would have you think... Not anymore than some Central/South American country sending the recorders to Washington to be read out after an Airbus crash would be a political "snub" to France...

I get blue in the face saying this (not that anyone gives a shit) so I'll say it one last time -- Air crash investigations are a LOT less political than you'd want to believe.