Beleaguered Boeing installs new warning light

LITTLEJOHN IS BACK NEXT TUESDAY

BOEING is to install a cockpit warning light that was originally offered only as an added extra, it was claimed last night.

In a bid to get the grounded 737 Max fleet back in the air following two crashes that killed 346 people, the company will fit the AOA Disagree light as standard to all planes, officials told The New York Times.

The light warns pilots when the ‘angle of attack’ (AOA) readings, taken from each wing, do not match, indicating a possible problem. Boeing previously offered the alert as an extra, but it was not required by regulators and many low-cost airlines opted against it.

Indonesia’s Lion Air did not install the warning light. Lion Air Fight 610 crashed into the Java Sea minutes after takeoff in October, killing all 189 on board. On March 10, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed a few minutes after taking off from Addis Ababa, killing all 157 people on board. It is not yet known what caused either crash.

Boeing did not comment on the claim.