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America's aircraft-safety regulator has been the industry's gold standard since it was set up in the 1950s.
自20世紀50年代成立以來，美國飛機安全監管機構一直是這行業的黃金標準。
When the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) called out an aeroplane as unsafe, counterparts around the world followed its lead.
當美國聯邦航空管理局（FAA）宣布某一飛機不安全時，其全球同行也將照做。
That changed after a Boeing 737 Max jetliner crashed in Ethiopia on March 10th, killing all 157 on board,
但這一現象在兩起空難后發生了變化。3月10日，一架波音737Max噴氣客機在埃塞俄比亞墜機，機上157人全部遇難，
five months after the same model went down in Indonesia in apparently similar circumstances.
5個月后，在明顯相似的情況下，同一機型飛機在印尼墜機。
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監管機構停飛該機型后才宣布停飛。
A week on, analysis of the black box recovered in Ethiopia suggests "clear similarities" with the Indonesian accident,
對埃塞俄比亞空難黑匣子的分析表明這起事故和印尼事故存在“明顯相似性”，
the country's transport ministry said on March 17th. This raises questions about the FAA's certification of the plane.
該國交通部于3月17日表示。這就引發了有關FAA對該飛機進行認證的質疑。
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，《華爾街日報》報道稱司法部已對MAX的開發進行調查。
Two days later the transportation secretary began an audit of the aeroplane's certification process.
兩天后，交通部長開始了對該飛機認證過程的審查。
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.
什么地方出了問題？航空作家Jon Ostrower指出波音公司在2011年決定在熱門737的早期型上安裝一種新的節能引擎。
Airbus, its European arch-rival, was also planning to do the same on its competing narrow-body jet, the A320.
其歐洲勁敵空中客車公司也打算這么做—在其競品窄體飛機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.
但雖然A320飛機底部有足夠的空間可以安裝這些更寬的引擎，但是又寬又矮的737沒有那么多的空間。
Boeing decided to mount the engine further forward instead, making the plane less aerodynamically stable.
波音決定將引擎放到更前端的地方，因此飛機在空氣動力性上缺乏穩定性。
To improve stability, Boeing installed software called MCAS.
為了提高穩定性，波音安裝了一款名為MCAS的軟件。
This allowed pilots who were certified for the older 737 to fly the new version without getting a new licence.
這款軟件能讓駕駛老版737的飛行員無需取得新執照就能駕駛新機型.
Boeing did not mention MCAS in instruction manuals before the Indonesian crash, the Seattle Times reported.
《西雅圖時報》報道稱，在印尼墜機前，波音沒有在操作工序說明書中提到MCAS。
Investigators think that MCAS may have contributed to that accident.
調查人員認為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,
波音仍對737MAX的安全性充滿信心。雖然調查還在繼續，其表示，
"Boeing is finalising its development of a previously announced software update
“波音先前宣布的一款軟件升級開發
and pilot training revision that will address the MCAS flight control law's behaviour in response to erroneous sensor inputs".
以及飛行員培訓修訂即將結束，這些將解決MCAS飛行控制律對錯誤感應器輸入做出反應的行為”。
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