Pilots unions criticise Boeing

Commercial airline pilots at Southwest Airlines and American Airlines were not informed during training about a new flight control system that may have played a role in the fatal crash of a Boeing 737 MAX8 operated by Lion Air in Indonesia last month, pilot union representatives from both airlines said yesterday.

Jon Weaks, president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, said pilots were not made aware of the issue until last week when Boeing issued an advisory.

‘‘We did not know this was on the [Boeing 737] MAX models,’’ Weaks said, referring to a new automated flight control feature designed to prevent the plane from stalling by automatically nudging its nose downward in response to externally collected flight data.

‘‘When you’re responsible for that aircraft and there are systems on there that you have not been made aware of, that’s not right.’’

Dennis Tajer, communications committee chairman at Allied Pilots Association (APA), representing American Airlines pilots, said Boeing exhibited a ‘‘failure of the safety culture’’ by not updating pilots early enough on how the new systems work.

‘‘This was clearly a sign that the safety culture [at Boeing] was missing on a cylinder or two,’’ he said. ‘‘We’re all on the same side looking at Boeing saying ‘what else you got?’’’

In response to the concerns, a Boeing spokesman said the company is ‘‘deeply saddened’’ by the recent plane crash in Indonesia and is working with officials to determine what went wrong.

‘‘We are taking every measure to fully understand all aspects of this incident, working closely with the investigating team and all regulatory authorities involved,’’ Boeing media relations lead Paul Bergman said. ‘‘We are confident in the safety of the 737 MAX.’’

The exact cause of the crash, however, remains unknown.

In the meantime airlines, pilots, regulators and jet manufacturers have been frantically reviewing flight protocols and systems to ensure passengers on other 737 MAX8 jets are not put at risk.