Pilots confronted Boeing with 737 Max fears after first fatal crash, audio reveals
  • 5 years ago
It has emerged that, just months before a second deadly crash of a Boeing 737 Max airplane, American Airlines pilots angrily confronted a Boeing official about an anti-stall system suspected to have contributed to two fatal crashes.
For more on this and other news around the world, let's turn to our Hong Yoo.
This audio was obtained by CBS News. Tell us more about it.
Yes, Mark, the audio was recorded at a tense meeting between the American Airlines pilots' union and Boeing over an anti-stall system that may have been factors in two deadly crashes.
The meeting that was recorded came four months before the second crash of a Boeing 737 Max jet happened in Ethiopia.
One pilot is heard saying that they deserve to know what is on their airplanes as they claim none of them knew the system was on the airplane, indicating they were not aware of the 737 Max's computerized stability program.
Boeing has been criticized for not disclosing how the anti-stall system worked in order to avoid costly retraining.
The vice president of Boeing Mike Sinnett who was at the meeting is heard claiming what happened to Lion Air was once-in-a-lifetime type scenario.
On the audio, a Boeing official is heard telling pilots it would make software changes, perhaps in as little as six weeks, but didn't want to hurry it.
The fix was still being developed when the second 737 Max crashed in March leading to the worldwide grounding of the plane.
The recording's release came as the U.S. House transportation committee opened a hearing into the role of Boeing's regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration, in certifying the Max.

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