MCAS meaning in Academic & Science ?
Answer: What is Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System mean?
The Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) is a flight stabilizing program developed by Boeing which became notorious for its role in two fatal accidents of the 737 MAX, which killed all 346 people on board. MCAS was first used on Boeing KC-46 Pegasus military air tanker to balance fuel loads, but the aircraft, which was based on the Boeing 767, allowed pilots to assume control of the aircraft.
On the MAX, MCAS was intended to mimic flight behavior of the previous generation of the series, the Boeing 737 NG. During MAX flight tests, Boeing discovered that the larger size and position of the engines tended to push the nose up during certain maneuvers. Engineers decided to use MCAS to counter that tendency, since major structural redesign would have been prohibitively expensive and time-consuming. Boeing's goal was to have the MAX certified as another 737 version, which would appeal to airlines for the reduced cost of pilot training. The Federal Aviation Administration approved Boeing's request to remove a description of MCAS from the aircraft manual, leaving pilots unaware of the system when the airplane entered service in 2017.
After the Lion Air crash, Boeing and the FAA, still not revealing MCAS, referred pilots to a revised checklist procedure that must be performed in case of a malfunction. Boeing then received many requests for more information and revealed MCAS in another message, and that it can intervene without pilot input. According to Boeing, MCAS was supposed to compensate for an excessive nose up angle by adjusting horizontal stabilizer before the aircraft would potentially stall. Boeing denied that MCAS was an anti-stall system, and stressed it was intended to improve the handling of the aircraft.
After the second crash, Ethiopian authorities stated that the procedure did not enable the crew to prevent the accident, which occurred while a fix to MCAS was under development. Boeing admitted MCAS played a role in both accidents, when it acted on false data from a single angle of attack (AoA) sensor. In early 2020, the FAA, Transport Canada, and EASA evaluated flight test results with MCAS disabled, and suggested that the MAX might not have needed MCAS at all.
In late 2020, an FAA Airworthiness Directive approved design changes for each MAX aircraft, which would prevent MCAS activation unless both AoA sensors register similar readings, eliminate MCAS's ability to repeatedly activate, and allow pilots to override the system if necessary. The FAA began requiring all MAX pilots to undergo MCAS-related training in flight simulators by 2021.
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