BOEING: Hard line on software

Dear Mr. Harrison: I read your My Turn article in the Coeur d’Alene Press (May 3). Thank you for your response to my article on April 26. I found your article informative.

You took issue with my stating the two Boeing 737-M airplane crashes were because of software problems: “Contrary to Mr. Black’s assertion, it really wasn’t faulty software that brought those planes down.”

You also offer: “So, sorry, Mr. Black. No faulty software. I’ll grant you, they will probably fix it via software.”

I based my article on AP releases from the Coeur d’Alene Press. These columns cited software problems as the culprit in the crashes. Recently, in the May 4 edition: “Boeing is working on a software fix to a system that pushed the noses down in response to faulty sensor readings.”

I infer from your article that no software was involved. That is not what the public has been led to believe. You say a software fix will fix the problem. How can a flyer know the so-called fix will not create yet another problem? Is the software fix fixing hardware or software? You do not say.

As stated in my articles, the public should become more aware that complexity does not necessarily lead to efficacy. All too often, it leads to danger.

My point in these articles was the danger of using increasingly complex systems. Your piloting your F-18, my piloting my Piper Colt (many years ago): For better or worse, you and I had control of our flight path.

UYLESS BLACK

Coeur d’Alene