Of course, the MAX wasn’t really a new plane, just an “upgrade” of the old 737 that had the benefit of carrying roughly two and a half times as many passengers about three times as far as the original 737.
Once the 737 MAX materialized as a real-life plane about four years later, however, test pilots discovered new realms in which the plane was more stall-prone than its predecessors. So Boeing modified MCAS to turn down the nose of the plane whenever an angle-of-attack (AOA) sensor detected a stall, regardless of the speed.
The upshot was that Boeing had not only outfitted the MAX with a deadly piece of software; it had also taken the additional step of instructing pilots to respond to an erroneous activation of the software by literally attempting the impossible.
Other pilots, like Ethiopian Airlines instructor Bernd Kai von Hoesslin, vented to their own corporate management, pleading for more resources to train people on the scary new planes—just weeks before von Hoesslin’s carrier would suffer its own MAX-engineered mass tragedy.
After both accidents, the flight-data recordings indicated that the immediate culprit was a sensor failure tied to a new and obscure control function that was unique to the 737 Max: the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS).
the PilotsCost-cutting, corporate arrogance, and a new plane that was supposed to be easy to fly. An exclusive excerpt from Flying Blind: The 737 Max Tragedy and the Fall of Boeing.
FORT WORTH, Texas—A Federal Aviation Administration training specialist said a former Boeing Co. BA 5.64%▲ pilot lied to her about how a 737 MAX flight-control system worked before two of the jets crashed three years ago.
Boeing denied its overall responsibility and stated that the company was confident in the safety of the Boeing 737-Max. Boeing decided to use “denial” as their crisis response strategy after the crash on March 10, 2019.
Boeing has admitted full responsibility for the second crash of its 737 Max model in Ethiopia, in a legal agreement with families of the 157 victims.
The Department of Justice criminal prosecution of Mark Forkner, chief technical pilot at Boeing responsible for the 737 Max, ended in quick acquittal.
The pilot, Mark Forkner, was the only person to face criminal charges for flaws that resulted in two fatal crashes of one of Boeing's most important planes.
Forkner remains the only individual to have been criminally charged by the federal government in connection with the flawed 737 Max.
But the DOJ entered into a deferred prosecution agreement, with Boeing admitting to criminal misconduct for misleading regulators but not pleading guilty to the charge. As part of the settlement, Boeing agreed to pay $2.5 billion, with most of it going to the airlines.
The most important thing in crisis communications is to keep calm. Explain the situation to people internally, gather the facts, and try and get your information out as quickly and as accurately as you possibly can.
But they do include problems with some critical systems, including the motors used to adjust the horizontal stabiliser - the wing on the tailplane of the aircraft. There have also been faults with engines, flight control systems, hydraulics and wiring.
3 Key Leadership Lessons From Boeing's 737 Max CrisisDon't Put Fear of Competitors Above the Interests of Customers.Don't Rush a Flawed Product to Market to Win Market Share.Don't Destroy Your Credibility By Pushing an Overly Optimistic Narrative.