“Passenger’s Statement Reflects Boeing’s Terrible Crisis as Pride Becomes a ‘Deadly Monster'”
Ed Pierson booked a flight from Seattle to New Jersey in 2023. But at the last minute, he found himself boarding a plane he never wanted to fly on – a Boeing 737 Max.
“I arrived at the airport, double-checked to make sure it wasn’t a 737 Max. I went through security, bought coffee, and boarded the plane. I thought this airplane was quite new,” Pierson told CNN. “Then, I sat down and on the emergency instruction card tucked into the seat pocket, it said this was a Max.”
He stood up and walked away.
“I encountered a flight attendant shutting the door ahead. I said, ‘I shouldn’t be on this airplane.’ The flight attendant asked, ‘What do you know about the Max?'” Pierson recalled.
“I said, ‘I can’t go into details right now, but I have no intention of flying on a Boeing 737 Max, and I want to get off the plane.'”
Pierson managed to make it to New Jersey after Alaska airport staff rebooked him on a different flight later that evening. He said spending the entire day at the airport was worth it to avoid flying on the Max.
Pierson possesses rare knowledge and experience with the Boeing aircraft. He is currently the CEO of an aviation oversight group called the Aviation Safety Organization and has held leadership positions in the Navy for 30 years, followed by 10 years at Boeing. Pierson spent 3 years as a senior production support manager at the Renton plant, where the 737 Max project was executed before its launch.
However, he is also one of the passengers who refuses to fly on an aircraft that has been at the center of two fatal accidents, as well as the incident on January 5th, where part of an Alaska Airlines aircraft’s fuselage was ripped mid-flight. The door latch was found to be missing four bolts, which should have been in their correct position. Reports of “multiple” loose bolts and misdrilled holes have surfaced from subsequent investigations into the Max 9 model, after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded 171 Max 9 planes with the same door design.
Experts agree that the Alaska incident could have been even worse, and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) chairman has warned that “such an event can happen again.”
The previous Max 8 model was involved in two fatal accidents in 2018 and 2019, resulting in a total of 346 deaths. The accidents were attributed to the malfunction of the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), an automated system on the Boeing 737 Max designed to stabilize the aircraft’s altitude by overriding pilot input in certain situations. Boeing took legal responsibility for the accidents in 2021.
A few weeks after the Alaska incident, Boeing CEO David Calhoun told investors during a quarterly call, “We will fully cooperate and be transparent with the FAA in all activity… This growing level of oversight, whether coming from us or regulatory agencies or third parties, is going to make us better.”
Calhoun added, “We have created the problem and we understand that. Regardless of the conclusions drawn, Boeing is still accountable for what happened. No matter what the specific cause of the accident, an event like this cannot happen on an airplane produced from one of our facilities. We simply have to be better.”
In February, following the Alaska incident, the company replaced the head of the Boeing 737 Max program and restructured other senior management figures.
This move came as critics continued to argue that the aircraft manufacturer prioritized profit over safety.
On February 28th, the FAA gave Boeing 90 days to develop a plan to address quality and safety issues.
Boeing told CNN, “Every day, over 80 airlines operate approximately 5,000 flights with the global fleet of 1,300 737 Max airplanes, safely transporting 700,000 passengers to their destinations. The operational reliability of the 737 Max fleet is over 99%, comparable to other commercial airplane models.”
Of course, thousands of passengers board the Max without any concerns. But many others are not as confident.
The last time the Max 8 was grounded, 25% of the 1,005 Americans surveyed by Reuters/Ipsos said they had little or no trust in the aircraft. The Boeing Max has faced a 20-month grounding period following the Ethiopian Airlines accident in March 2019.
Only 31% of people trusted the Max 8, while 44% were uncertain. The survey was conducted in December 2020, just before the Boeing 737 Max 8 returned to the skies.
Belén Estacio has been boycotting the Max 8 since the January incident. Immediately after the Alaska Airlines fuselage incident, she was asked to work on a Max 8 flight.
She said, “My boyfriend didn’t want me to fly on this type of aircraft, so I changed my plans to ensure I didn’t fly on any Max. The Alaska incident was an additional confirmation that Boeing still hasn’t thoroughly resolved its issues.”
In April 2017, in internal messages among Boeing employees about the upcoming Max model, one employee wrote, “This airplane was designed by clowns supervised by monkeys.”
Similar exchanges also referred to the “terrible design” of the aircraft. A design modification was labeled as “patching a leaking boat” by an employee.
These internal messages were revealed as part of an 18-month investigation into the Max aircraft by the US House of Representatives’ Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. In a 238-page report released in September 2020, the committee outlined “serious flaws and egregious errors in the design, development, and certification of the aircraft.” The report highlighted 5 key issues, including “production pressures compromising passenger safety” and a “culture of concealment” at Boeing.
At the time, Boeing stated that the messages “did not reflect the company we are and need to be, and they are completely unacceptable.”
When the Max 8 returned to service, Boeing assured it would be “one of the most thoroughly tested aircraft in history, and we have complete confidence in its safety.”
The future of the Max seems uncertain, despite its return to flight. The FAA has limited the production of new aircraft and launched an investigation “into whether Boeing has failed to maintain their quality system in accordance with federal regulations.”
A Boeing spokesperson told CNN that they had introduced a “potential reforms analysis, focusing on safety around quality control.”
The company stated that they had “invested significantly in the workforce in recent years, with a 10% increase in engineering staff and an 11% increase in output, while increasing the number of commercial aviation inspectors by 20% and continuing to hire.”
Boeing added, “We have made quality investments across the enterprise, increasing our high-quality workforce by over 25%, exceeding pre-pandemic levels from 2019.”
Stumo insists that the company needs urgent change.
“The first accident should not have happened. The second time, they had the full knowledge of the MCAS incident – which also should not have happened. Customers don’t want a third accident. We want Boeing to become a successful aerospace company again, producing great and safe products as before.”
(Reference: CNN)