3 pilots responded to my 737 Max article, one was the captain of Qantas Flight 72 (QF72) who made an emergency landing.

In response to Boeing 737 Max Unsafe to Fly: New Scathing Report by Pilot and Software Designer, I received a huge number of comments and emails.

Not Just Boeing, Airbus Had Similar Issues

The most interesting response came from Kevin Sullivan, the captain of Qantas Flight 72, an Airbus that made an emergency landing at Learmonth airport near the town of Exmouth, Western Australia following an inflight accident featuring a pair of sudden uncommanded pitch-down manoeuvres that severely injured many of the passengers and crew. The injuries included fractures, lacerations and spinal injuries.

That emergency landing was on October 7, 2008. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigation found a fault with one of the aircraft's three air data inertial reference units and a previously unknown software design limitation of the Airbus A330's fly-by-wire flight control primary computer (FCPC).

Sullivan Responds

Hello Mish,

I was the Captain of QF72 in October, 2008. The Air Data and Flight Control Computers teamed up to generate automation confusion and then maneuvered my Airbus A330 in similar fashion to the MAX accidents. 119 passengers and crew were injured and a Mayday declared for emergency divert to Learmonth airfield in Western Australia.