It was Boeing's best-selling plane … Until it found itself at the center of a coverup that cost hundreds of lives.
This is the Boeing 737 Max scandal explained.
This is the Boeing 737 Max scandal explained.
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NewsTranscript
00:00We have breaking news from Indonesia. A Lion Air Boeing 737,
00:04Max 8, carrying 189 people, crashed into the sea this morning.
00:13The first crash should not have happened. The second crash is inexcusable.
00:30When you think about airlines who have a profit margin of sometimes only three or four percent,
00:46this has the potential to really transform their business.
00:48This is an airplane that will continue to have a competitive advantage
01:02to not only our competition today, but competition in the future.
01:19The race to build the new planes and compete with Europe's Airbus
01:22pushed the production schedule into overdrive. Instead of 47 planes a month, 52 were being built.
01:48As the pilots of the 737 Max were scrambling to keep control of the plane,
02:02they desperately began sourcing a handbook, struggling to understand why the jet was
02:07lurching downwards. Indonesian investigators found the black boxes. It records a very
02:13comprehensive tally of what happened on the airplane. Something was putting repeated
02:18nose-down pressure on the airplane.
02:33The reporting showed Boeing knew that it was risky, but their response was to blame the pilots.
02:48So
03:00stunning announcement from the FAA. New evidence begins to show a connection between
03:05Sunday's airplane crash in Ethiopia and the Lion Air crash five months earlier.
03:10Data from the Ethiopian plane is similar, up and down, then up again over a very volatile two
03:16minutes. American Airlines pilots asking months ago to Boeing officials, why didn't they know
03:21about this new flight control system? The crew performed all the procedures
03:28repeatedly provided by the manufacturer, but was not able to control the aircraft.
03:47We're going to be issuing an emergency order of prohibition to ground all flights of the 737
03:56Max 8 and the 737 Max 9. Safety is at the core of who we are at Boeing. Thank you. Most important
04:04to the relatives who have lost loved ones, if you could please stand so we could thank you.
04:12Sammy experienced six minutes of roller coaster terror, so did the others on the plane. The plane
04:19plowed into an Ethiopian farm field. In the over 1,600 page original flight manual of Boeing 737
04:28Max, the aircraft's new MCAS computer system was mentioned only once. Once. Senator, if I could
04:36try to respond to your question. First of all, the premise that we would lie or conceal is just
04:44not consistent with our values. With new flight control software and updated pilot procedures,
05:06the 737 Max has been cleared to take off. Nobody deserves to go through this kind of grief and this
05:13sorrow and pain when it could be prevented. And we want the Max 8 to be safe before it is returned
05:22to the public again. If they meet the terms of the agreement over the next three years,
05:35the charge for conspiracy to defraud the FAA, that will be dropped. It was a sweetheart deal.
05:40It wasn't justice. And by giving this immunity, basically the decision makers have not been held
05:46to account.