'Flying coffins': senators rip Boeing chief over Max jet crashes that killed 346
Source: The Guardian
'Flying coffins': senators rip Boeing chief over Max jet crashes that killed 346
Under-fire Dennis Muilenburg subjected to withering questions from angry committee members about flaws in anti-stall system
Edward Helmore in New York
Tue 29 Oct 2019 17.58 GMT
First published on Tue 29 Oct 2019 17.33 GMT
Boeings chief executive, Dennis Muilenburg, faced the anger of members of Congress in Washington over the failure of the aircraft maker and US regulators to identify and correct flaws in the design of the 737 Max jet that led to two crashes, killing 346.
Muilenburg, who was forced to step down as Boeing chairman earlier this month after emails suggesting Boeing test pilots knew about defects in an anti-stall system but failed to alert regulators, opened his testimony with an apology to the family members of crash victims.
We are sorry, truly and deeply sorry, Muilenburg said. As a husband and father, I am heartbroken by your losses.
Muilenberg was appearing at the first of a series of congressional committee hearings. Tuesdays occurred on the first anniversary of the Lion Air flight 610 crash in Indonesia that killed 189 people. In March, after an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max crashed, killing 157 people, the 737 Max was grounded worldwide, and Muilenburg pledged such accidents would not happen again.
But he was subjected to withering questioning from US politicians from both sides of the political aisle, in the first of several planned hearings and further investigations into Boeings conduct over the top-selling jet.
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https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/oct/29/boeing-dennis-muilenburg-congress-testimony-737-max-mcas