Boeing 737 Max crash prompts 'critical safety concerns' from flight attendants union

The union representing American Airlines flight attendants issued a bulletin Monday telling members they will not be forced to work on Boeing 737 MAX airplanes after the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX 8 Sunday, the second of that model to go down in less than six months.

“It is important for you to know that if you feel it is unsafe to work the 737 Max, you will not be forced to fly it,” wrote Lori Bassani, national president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, which represents more than 27,000 American Airlines flight attendants.

Bassani said she has been in contact with top leaders at the airline to request they address “critical safety concerns of our union and our members in flying the 737 Max aircraft.”

Unions representing pilots raised concerns last fall after a 737 Max 8 operated by Lion Air crashed in the Java Sea off Indonesia shortly after takeoff. They criticized Boeing for failing to disclose a new automatic safety feature on the plane that repeatedly pulled the plane's nose down as the pilots struggled to control the plane, Indonesian investigators found.

Boeing issued a safety bulletin to airlines and pilots a week after that crash to "point them back to existing flight procedures" to override the safety feature. The FAA issued an emergency directive in December requiring airlines to update flight manuals.

On Monday, the agency released a notice saying the Ethiopian investigation "has just begun and to date we have not been provided data to draw any conclusions or take any actions."

Boeing did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Monday. On Sunday, the company said it was sending a team to provide technical assistance to Ethiopian investigators.

It’s too early to tell if the feature that contributed to the Lion Air disaster may have also played a role in the Ethiopian Airlines crash. In both instances, the pilots tried to return to the airport a few minutes after takeoff but were not able to make it back. And both flights experienced drastic speed fluctuations during ascent.

The 737 Max is the newest model of the 737 and has been the fastest-selling airplane in the company’s history with 4,700 orders from more than 100 customers around the world, according to Boeing. Since 2017, Southwest Airlines has received 31 of the planes, American Airlines has 22 and United Airlines has 12.

Authorities in China and Indonesia ordered airlines to ground the planes after Sunday's crash. Ethiopian Airlines and Cayman Airways also are temporarily halting use of the planes.

Mike Slack, a pilot and lawyer who has represented victims and their families in plane crashes, said U.S. airlines should ground the 737 Max models until more is known. He said he believes having two fatal crashes in such short succession on a new type of aircraft is unprecedented.

“This to me is a very alarming circumstance,” said Slack, who is also a former NASA engineer. “Do you gamble, continue to operate and gamble that you can figure it out before another one happens, but, at the current rate, it may not be that long, and do you really want to put the traveling public in a position where they’re having to make travel decisions based upon the fact that neither the regulators nor the airlines have opted to ground these aircraft?”

Slack noted that the number of 737 Max planes currently in use is relatively low compared to airlines’ overall fleets.

“It’s a hard decision for regulators because the regulators are going to get lobbied by the airlines not to do it. It’s a hard decision for the airlines because they’re going to lose revenues. But at what point does the safety of the traveling public comes ahead of that?” he said.

Other specialists advised caution.

“The fact the two accidents are similar doesn’t mean it’s the same cause,” said Les Westbrooks, an associate professor of aeronautical science at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

He and others said they expect answers will come soon.

“They already have the black boxes and they will be able to read them in the next 48 hours,” said Michael Barr, an aviation safety expert who instructs at the University of Southern California’s Viterbi School of Engineering. “It’s going to be pretty quick.”

He cautioned against jumping to quick conclusions. When two Boeing 737s were involved in separate crashes in the early 1990s in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Pittsburgh, there also was pressure to ground the fleet. But the order was never given.

The Air Line Pilots Association, which represents more than 61,000 pilots at 33 airlines, also warned Monday against jumping to conclusions.

“As the various parties responsible for this investigation begin their work, we caution against speculation about what may have caused this tragic accident,” the organization said in a statement. “ALPA stands ready, through the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations, to assist the international aviation community in every way possible with the shared goal of advancing a safer air transportation system around the globe.”

The union representing Southwest Airlines’ pilots offered condolences to the families and loved ones of the 157 passengers and crew who died Sunday and said it has been in touch with Boeing, but the group had nothing further to add Monday.

Bassani, president of the American Airlines flight attendants’ union, said members who don’t want to fly in the 737 Max should contact scheduling officials at the airline to be taken off the flights. In the meantime, she said she has been in touch with officials at the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board, which are assisting in the investigation.

“We are all gathering facts and working together on how to best represent our members in the aftermath of this tragedy,” Bassani wrote.

Bart Jansen contributing.

More: 'A punch in the nose for Boeing': Second fatal crash raises questions about plane's safety

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Boeing 737 Max crash prompts 'critical safety concerns' from flight attendants union