Boeing Employees Mocked by Aviation Authorities Over Approval of Crashed 737 Max

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] "This airplane was designed by clowns, and it must have been supervised by monkeys."

A document mocking the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regarding defects in the 737 Max, created by employees of the aircraft manufacturer Boeing, which has experienced a series of major accidents, has been revealed, sparking controversy.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

According to the New York Times (NYT) on the 9th, a 100-page report submitted by Boeing to the U.S. Congress contained content where Boeing employees mocked the authorities while hiding software defects in the 737 Max flight simulator. The problematic 737 Max is the model involved in two crashes: the Lion Air passenger plane in Indonesia in October 2018 and the Ethiopian Airlines passenger plane in March last year, resulting in a total of 346 deaths. The aircraft is currently grounded.

In the report, before the first accident occurred, one employee said, "I would put my four family members on a plane flown by a pilot trained on the Max simulator. I wouldn't do that," to which another employee replied, "I wouldn't put them on either."

Another employee stated, "What I did last year to cover up will not be forgiven by God."

Boeing apologized regarding this report and promised follow-up actions concerning the employees involved.

Boeing said, "The language used in the conversations and the emotions expressed do not align with Boeing's values," and added, "Boeing will take appropriate measures." Boeing explained, "These measures include disciplinary and personnel actions."

Meanwhile, the FAA expressed that it was "disappointing" in relation to this report but stated, "The contents mentioned in the report did not point to any safety risks that were not already identified during the ongoing investigation related to the 737 Max."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.