2019年经济学人 波音和FAA:亲密之罪(1)（在线收听）

America's aircraft-safety regulator has been the industry's gold standard since it was set up in the 1950s.

自20世纪50年代成立以来，美国飞机安全监管机构一直是这行业的黄金标准。

When the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) called out an aeroplane as unsafe, counterparts around the world followed its lead.

当美国联邦航空管理局（FAA）宣布某一飞机不安全时，其全球同行也将照做。

That changed after a Boeing 737 Max jetliner crashed in Ethiopia on March 10th, killing all 157 on board,

但这一现象在两起空难后发生了变化。3月10日，一架波音737Max喷气客机在埃塞俄比亚坠机，机上157人全部遇难，

five months after the same model went down in Indonesia in apparently similar circumstances.

5个月后，在明显相似的情况下，同一机型飞机在印尼坠机。

The FAA grounded it only once all other big regulators around the world had done so.

但FAA在全球所有其他大型监管机构停飞该机型后才宣布停飞。

A week on, analysis of the black box recovered in Ethiopia suggests "clear similarities" with the Indonesian accident,

对埃塞俄比亚空难黑匣子的分析表明这起事故和印尼事故存在“明显相似性”，

the country's transport ministry said on March 17th. This raises questions about the FAA's certification of the plane.

该国交通部于3月17日表示。这就引发了有关FAA对该飞机进行认证的质疑。

On March 17th the Wall Street Journal reported that the Department of Justice had launched a probe into the MAX's development.

3月17日，《华尔街日报》报道称司法部已对MAX的开发进行调查。

Two days later the transportation secretary began an audit of the aeroplane's certification process.

两天后，交通部长开始了对该飞机认证过程的审查。

What went wrong? Jon Ostrower, an aviation writer, points to Boeing's decision in 2011 to put a new fuel-efficient engine on an earlier version of the popular 737.

什么地方出了问题？航空作家Jon Ostrower指出波音公司在2011年决定在热门737的早期型上安装一种新的节能引擎。

Airbus, its European arch-rival, was also planning to do the same on its competing narrow-body jet, the A320.

其欧洲劲敌空中客车公司也打算这么做—在其竞品窄体飞机A320上采取相同措施。

But although there was plenty of room under the A320 to fit these wider engines, the squatter 737 had less space.

但虽然A320飞机底部有足够的空间可以安装这些更宽的引擎，但是又宽又矮的737没有那么多的空间。

Boeing decided to mount the engine further forward instead, making the plane less aerodynamically stable.

波音决定将引擎放到更前端的地方，因此飞机在空气动力性上缺乏稳定性。

To improve stability, Boeing installed software called MCAS.

为了提高稳定性，波音安装了一款名为MCAS的软件。

This allowed pilots who were certified for the older 737 to fly the new version without getting a new licence.

这款软件能让驾驶老版737的飞行员无需取得新执照就能驾驶新机型.

Boeing did not mention MCAS in instruction manuals before the Indonesian crash, the Seattle Times reported.

《西雅图时报》报道称，在印尼坠机前，波音没有在操作工序说明书中提到MCAS。

Investigators think that MCAS may have contributed to that accident.

调查人员认为MCAS可能促成了那次事故。

Boeing continues to have "full confidence" in the 737 MAX's safety. While investigations continue, it says,

波音仍对737MAX的安全性充满信心。虽然调查还在继续，其表示，

"Boeing is finalising its development of a previously announced software update

“波音先前宣布的一款软件升级开发

and pilot training revision that will address the MCAS flight control law's behaviour in response to erroneous sensor inputs".

以及飞行员培训修订即将结束，这些将解决MCAS飞行控制律对错误感应器输入做出反应的行为”。