Inside the Alice Springs plane graveyard for grounded Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes

A fleet of grounded MAX 8 aircraft will make their way across the Java Sea to their new home nestled in the Australian outback..

The first of six Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes have arrived at their new outback home where they will be held in “long-term storage” until the aircraft are given the OK to fly again.

The grounded model, which was banned from the sky globally after being involved in two crashes that killed 346 people, hasn’t been in use since March 2019.

The first of SilkAir’s fleet of 737 MAX aircraft arrived in Alice Springs this week after previously being held at Changi Airport in Singapore for six months.

In March 2019, airlines around the world grounded their 737 MAX 8s after two deadly crashes involving the Boeing model.

The first was when a Lion Air plunged in to the Java Sea just 13 minutes after takeoff, killing all 189 on-board.

Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage in Alice Springs will be home to the grounded SilkAir MAX 8 aircraft. Picture: Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage

Less than five months later, the same model of Boeing aircraft crashed while flying from Addis Ababa to Nairobi. The Ethiopian Airlines flight suffered problems just minutes after takeoff, with the crash leaving no survivors.

Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) gave the all clear for Singapore’s SilkAir to move the jets to Australia, citing the “low-humidity environment” as the perfect holding yard for the grounded planes.

In an interview with the ABC, Tom Vincent, managing director of Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage (APAS) — which is where the MAX 8 aircraft will be stored — said the current home in Singapore was not a long-term plan, which was why the airline needed to relocate to Alice Springs.

The boneyard in Alice Springs is the ideal setting for preserving aircraft.

“Climactic conditions all throughout Asia are not suitable for long-term storage of aircraft,” he said.

“The aircraft are being positioned here due to the climactic conditions in Alice Springs — predominantly, a low-humidity environment.

“It’s ideal conditions for preserving the asset of the aircraft … minimising corrosion and other issues.”

In order for the planes to fly from Singapore to Australia, the Federal Register of Legislation had to approve for the ban to be lifted for an “authorised flight” only, meaning no passengers could be on-board, it was moving for storage only and that the controversial MCAS feature on the aircraft was disabled during the flight.

The manoeuvring characteristics augmentation system (MCAS) is a feature of a Boeing 737 MAX flight control system that attempts to mimic pitching behaviour similar to the Boeing 737 NG, especially in low-speed and high angle of attack (AoA) flight.

Tom Vincent is the managing director of Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage, which has its operational facility in Alice Springs. Picture: Emma Murray.

The sensors’ job is to accurately determine how much the aircraft is pointing up or down. Since the horror Ethiopian Airlines crash in March, air safety experts have focused their attention on the tiny fin that extends from the airliner’s nose.

The MCAS system on a MAX 8 aircraft is constantly fed data from the two synchronised sensors located on the plane’s nose. In the event of pitch, the MCAS automatically moves the aircraft’s nose down without pilot input. Although pilots can cut off the system manually, its sudden activation can confuse pilots.

In a MAX 8, the fully automated system of the AoA sensor bypasses the pilot. It takes over the controls and forces the aircraft’s nose down to what it judges to be a “safe” angle.

SilkAir is relocating its MAX 8 aircraft (not pictured) to Alice Springs for storage.

Investigators say the flight characteristics of both the Ethiopian Air and Lion Air MAX 8 aircraft before they crashed was consistent with pilots “fighting” the aircraft’s computers.

Since Boeing introduced the 737 MAX 8 in May 2017, the company has delivered roughly 350 planes worldwide, with more than 5000 orders placed for the latest generation of 737s.

As of December 31, American Airlines had 24 of the planes in its fleet, and Southwest Airlines had 31 aircraft in service with more than 200 on order.

United Airlines’ fleet includes 14 MAX 9 planes, a larger version of the MAX 8.

The price per plane ranges from $US99.7-129 million ($A148-192 million), though discounts are usually given to clients for large orders.

Its main competitor is the Airbus A320, which is also designed for short and medium-haul flights.