Boeing 737 MAX aircraft experienced crashes due to the MCAS automated system repeatedly pushing the nose down based on faulty angle-of-attack sensor data, resulting in 378 deaths across two incidents.
The Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft was equipped with a new automated flight control system called MCAS (Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System) designed to prevent stalls by automatically pushing the aircraft nose down when angle-of-attack sensors indicated the nose was too high. On October 29, 2018, Lion Air Flight 610 crashed into the Java Sea killing all 189 people aboard after the MCAS system activated repeatedly due to a faulty angle-of-attack sensor. The sensor had been replaced the day before but continued providing erroneous readings. During the 11-minute flight, MCAS pushed the nose down 26 times while pilots struggled to regain control. A similar incident occurred on March 10, 2019, when Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed near Bishoftu, Ethiopia, killing all 157 people aboard. Investigation found that MCAS activation due to erroneous AOA sensor input caused repetitive nose-down commands that made the aircraft unrecoverable. Boeing had not adequately informed pilots about the MCAS system, and existing procedures to counteract the system were insufficient. The crashes led to worldwide grounding of the 737 MAX fleet and regulatory changes.
Domain classification, causal taxonomy, severity scores, and national security assessments were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
AI systems that fail to perform reliably or effectively under varying conditions, exposing them to errors and failures that can have significant consequences, especially in critical applications or areas that require moral reasoning.
AI system
Due to a decision or action made by an AI system
Unintentional
Due to an unexpected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed