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This is an airplane engine.
这是一个飞机发动机。
It's sitting in a field in Bishoftu, Ethiopia—part of the wreckage of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, which crashed on March 10, 2019.
它在埃塞俄比亚比斯霍夫图的一块田地里——它也是埃塞俄比亚航空公司302航班残骸的一部分，该航班已于2019年3月10日坠毁。
157 people died.
造成了157人丧生。
This was just a few months after another flight, Lion Air 610, crashed in Indonesia and killed 189 people.
而几个月前，狮航610航班才刚在印度尼西亚坠毁，造成189人死亡。
These two flights were operating the same plane: The Boeing 737 MAX 8.
两个航班均为同一机型：波音737 MAX 8。
And its engine is the key to understanding why this particular plane has caused so many problems.
而引擎是理解这架飞机为何接连失事的关键。
But there's nothing actually wrong with this engine.
问题是，事实上，这个引擎并没有什么问题。
In fact, airplane manufacturers raced to put them on their new planes.
原来，飞机制造商们会争先恐后地把引擎装上他们的新飞机。
That's where the problem started.
而问题，恰恰就出在了这里。
The two biggest airplane manufacturers in the world are Airbus and Boeing.
全球最大的两家飞机制造商分别是空客和波音。
And they have a fierce rivalry.
两者之间的竞争也是异常的激烈。
If one of them can offer a better plane, the other could lose a lot of money.
如果其中一家能提供更好的机型，另一家可能就要损失很多钱。
That's exactly what was about to happen in 2010.
这种情况2010年的时候就差点发生。
Airbus announced that they would update their most popular model, the A320,
当时，空客宣布，他们将对最受欢迎的机型A320进行升级——
a single-aisle airplane that services many domestic flights.
A320是一种单通道飞机，许多国内航班都是它的服务对象。
You've probably been on one.
说不定你们也坐过这个机型的航班。
For this new plane, Airbus had a big update.
空客对这一新机型的升级幅度很大。
It would have a new kind of engine.
包括采用一种新型的发动机。
It was much larger than the previous engine, but it would make the plane 15 percent more fuel efficient.
这种发动机的个头要比之前的大得多，但能将飞机的燃油效率提高15%。
And just as importantly, this upgrade wouldn't change the plane that much.
同样重要的是，这次升级并不会引起很大的改变。
A pilot could walk into the new model, with little additional training, and be on their way.
飞行员几乎不需要额外培训就能直接上路。
It was called the A320 NEO, and it would save airlines a lot of money.
该机型升级后名为“A320 NEO”，并将为航空公司节省很多很多钱。
This was a problem for Boeing.
这就给波音带来了一个麻烦。
To compete with Airbus,
为了与空客竞争，
Boeing's obvious move was to upgrade the engine on their single-aisle plane, the 737.
波音显然也会升级他们的单通道机型“波音737”的发动机。
But there was one issue.
但有一个问题。
Here's a sketch of the 737 next to the Airbus A320.
这是一张波音737和空客A320的对照草图。
Notice how the 737 is lower to the ground than the A320.
请注意，波音737与比A320更贴近地面。
This meant Airbus could slide a new engine under the wing of their A320.
这就意味着，空客可以直接把新引擎推到A320的机翼下。
But there wasn't enough room under the wing of the Boeing 737.
但波音737的机翼下就没有足够的空间了。
But a few months later, Boeing's product development head had big news.
不过，几个月后，波音的产品开发主管就宣布了一个重大消息。
He said: "We figured out a way to get a big enough engine under the wing."
他说：“我们已经想到了把大块头引擎塞到机翼下的办法了。”
Their solution was to move up the engine on the wing,
他们的办法就是把引擎沿着机翼往上挪，
so that it would be slightly higher and it would fit on their 737s.
这样，引擎的位置就能高一点儿，也能装到所有的737机型上了。
Here's a promotional video of that updated 737 in the air.
这是737升级后航行时的宣传视频。
You can actually see that the top of the engine is above the wing.
可以看到，引擎顶部是高出机翼上方的。
Boeing called this model the 737 MAX.
波音将这款机型命名为“737 MAX”。
And just like Airbus with the A320,
和空客A320一样，
Boeing said their new plane was so similar to its predecessor that pilots would only need minimal additional training.
波音公司也表示，他们的新机型与其前身非常相似，飞行员只需要很少的额外训练就能驾驶新机型。
The 737 MAX became the hottest selling plane on the market.
随后，737 MAX成了市场上最畅销的机型。
And it helped Boeing keep up with AirBus.
也帮助波音追赶上了空客的脚步。
Except, moving the engine up on the 737 had a side effect.
只是，调高737的发动机有一个副作用。
When the 737 MAX was in full thrust, like during takeoff,
737 MAX全速飞行，比如起飞的时候，
the nose tended to point too far upward, which could lead to a stall.
机头翘起的角度（迎角）会过大，这就可能导致飞机失速。
This was a problem, because these planes were supposed to behave exactly like the old ones.
这就麻烦了，因为这些飞机的性能本应该和旧机型一模一样的。
So Boeing came up with a workaround.
于是，波音想出了一个变通的办法。
Instead of re-engineering the plane,
他们没有选择对飞机进行重新设计，
they installed software that automatically pushed the nose downward if the pilot flew the plane at too high of an angle.
而是在飞机上安装了一个飞机在飞行员驾驶下大迎角飞行时会自动将机头往下压的软件。
They called it the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS.
他们将这一软件称之为“机动特性增强系统”(简称MCAS)。
But because Boeing was selling the 737 MAX as pretty much the same plane as the 737,
然而，由于波音基本上是把737 MAX和737当一个机型销售的，
they didn't highlight the new MCAS system.
他们并没有强调新增的MCAS系统。
Many pilots only got a two-hour iPad course before entering the cockpit for the first time.
许多飞行员首次进入737 MAX驾驶舱之前都只学了两个小时的iPad课程。
And the "training material did not mention" the MCAS software.
而且“培训材料并没有提到”MCAS这个软件。
In 2018, several American pilots complained to the federal government that the 737 MAX was “suddenly nosing down."
2018年，几名美国飞行员还曾向联邦政府投诉说，737 MAX“会突然开始俯冲”。
On October 29, 2018, Lion Air Flight 610 took off from Jakarta.
2018年10月29日，狮航610航班从雅加达起飞。
In the flight report, which shows the plane's altitude over time,
在显示飞机随时间的高度变化的飞行报告中，
you can see that the plane was in full thrust during takeoff.
可以看到，飞机在起飞时是全速前进的。
But at a certain point, the nose of the plane kept lurching downward.
但就在起飞阶段的某一刻，飞机的机头开始持续俯冲。
The pilots couldn't figure out why this was happening.
飞行员们对此是一头雾水。
The captain “asked the first officer to check the quick reference handbook."
机长“让大副去查阅快速参考手册。”
They couldn't find the solution.
但他们并没有找到解决办法。
The pilots continued to fight with the MCAS.
飞行员们继续与MCAS周旋。
The plane struggled to gain altitude.
飞机挣扎着上升了。
Reports show it was likely because the computer was getting incorrect sensor data,
报告显示，问题可能是电脑获取的传感器数据不准确造成的，
pushing the plane toward the earth below.
才导致MCAS系统将飞机推向下方的地面的。
12 minutes after takeoff, the plane crashed into the Java Sea.
起飞12分钟后，飞机坠入了爪哇海。
In the Ethiopia crash, the report shows that the pilots were actually able to disable the MCAS,
报告显示，在埃塞俄比亚坠机事件中，飞行员其实让MCAS系统停下来了，
but it was too late to overcome the malfunctioning MCAS sensors.
但要克服MCAS传感器故障造成的影响已经为时已晚。
For now, nearly every 737 MAX 8 in service has been grounded.
目前，当下服役的737 MAX 8飞机几乎已经全部停飞。
And the Federal Aviation Administration is facing scrutiny over how they rushed this plane through certification.
联邦航空管理局(简称FAA)正面临审查，因为他们在对这一机型进行认证时对其进行了关照。
Boeing's response has been to apply a software update and make the MCAS “less aggressive,"
波音的回应是，他们会对应用软件进行升级，让MCAS“不那么强势”，
while also saying they'll increase pilot training on how to turn it off.
同时，他们还表示，他们会加强对飞行员的培训，教他们如何关掉这一软件。
This problem started with a company's race to compete with its rival.
归根结底，这个问题始于一家公司强行与竞争对手竞争。
It pushed them to pretend like their new plane behaved exactly like their old one.
最终促使他们假装他们的新飞机的性能和旧飞机一模一样。
Even when it didn't.
即便事实并非如此。
