‘Damning’ Boeing messages reveal efforts to manipulate regulators of 737 Max

Jan. 10, 2020
The “communications do not reflect the company we are and need to be, and they are completely unacceptable,” Boeing said, according to Leslie Josephs for CNBC.

WASHINGTON - Boeing employees boasted about bullying regulators to approve the now-grounded 737 Max without requiring pilots to undergo simulator training while others raised safety concerns and complained about lax standards, according to a trove of internal documents the company released on Thursday, writes Leslie Josephs for CNBCContinue reading original article

The Intelligent Aerospace take:

January 10, 2020-Boeing shared more than 100 pages of internal communications with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the contents were described as "incredibly damning" by the chairman of the House Transportation Committee.

Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., who chairs that committee, also noted that "(The comments) paint a deeply disturbing picture of the lengths Boeing was apparently willing to go to in order to evade scrutiny from regulators, flight crews, and the flying public, even as its own employees were sounding alarms internally."

According to Josephs' reporting for CNBC, A Boeing employee asked a colleague in a February 2018 message: "Would you put your family on a MAX simulator-trained aircraft? I wouldn’t." His co-worker replied: "No." In the same thread of comments, one of the employees says: "Our arrogance is our demise."

There were numerous other comments made by Boeing employees which are highlighted in the CNBC report. The aerospace giant the messages “do not reflect the company we are and need to be, and they are completely unacceptable.”

Related: It’s not just software: new safety risks under scrutiny on Boeing’s 737 Max

Related: After Boeing halts Max production, suppliers wait for fallout

Related: FAA chief says Boeing 737 Max recertification process to stretch into 2020

Jamie Whitney, Associate Editor
Intelligent Aerospace

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