The company said in a statement it would make the"Angle of Attack disagree" alert a standard feature on the 737 MAX,adding that it could be retrofitted on existing airplanes.
The company said in the future it also will not charge customers who choose another safety feature known as the AOA indicator option.
Lawmakers questioned why Boeing had charged extra for some safety features and Senator Dianne Feinstein said she was considering legislation to bar the practice.
Boeing also released details of its software fix to its anti-stall system,which is believed to have repeatedly forced the nose lower in at least one of the accidents,in Indonesia last October. As a result of the fix,the nose would only be forced lower once per event after sensing a problem,giving pilots more control.
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It will also be disabled if two airflow sensors that measure key flight data offer widely different readings,Boeing said.
John Hamilton,chief engineer for 737 Max flight displays at Boeing's commercial airplanes unit,said in a statement that"all primary flight information required to safely and efficiently operate the 737 MAX"was already included without the features that would now be offered without Boeing charging extra for them.
He said the AOA indicator"provides supplementary information to the flight crew. The AOA disagree alert provides additional context for understanding the possible cause of air speed and altitude differences between the pilot’s and first officer’s displays."