Is Boeing's 737 Max fit to fly?

Business Daily

BBC

News, Business

4.4 • 796 Ratings

🗓️ 8 December 2020

⏱️ 17 minutes

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Summary

It was grounded worldwide after two tragic accidents. Now, regulators in the US have given it permission to fly again – but will it really be safe? Theo Leggett speaks to Mark Pegram whose son Sam was killed aboard the flight which crashed after take-off from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa in March last year. He also spoke to Ed Pierson, a former senior manager on the 737 production line at Boeing’s Renton factory, just outside Seattle, who gave testimony to the House of Representatives saying how months before the first accident, he had emailed his bosses, warning them how the pressure to produce new planes as fast as possible was undermining safety. In response to Mr Pierson’s testimony, Boeing insisted that the suggestion of a link between his concerns and the Max accidents was completely unfounded. It added that none of the authorities investigating the accidents had found that production conditions in the 737 factory had contributed in any way.The US regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration, has also come under fire. Barry Valentine, a former assistant administrator at the FAA who now works as a consultant for the Wicks group, says lessons have been learnt. Also in the programme is attorney and former inspector general of the US department of transportation, Mary Schiavo. And Bjorn Fehrm, of aviation consultants Leeham, who insists the 737 Max will now be safe.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, I'm Theo Leggett. Welcome to Business Daily from the BBC. The 737 Max was once the pride of Boeing's fleet,
0:08.5	the best-selling aircraft in its history, but it was grounded worldwide after two tragic accidents.
0:14.0	Now regulators and the United States have given it permission to fly again, but will it really be safe?
0:19.8	The fixing has been done in a very thorough way, actually in the most thorough way that I know
0:25.2	of any such fix in the history of airliners.
0:29.1	Yet relatives of those who died insist serious questions remain unanswered, and the plane
0:34.1	should stay on the ground.
0:35.3	Hugely disappointed and frankly fearful that this could happen again.
0:40.1	There could be another group of families experiencing what we've gone through.
0:44.2	Also has Boeing's corporate culture really changed and are regulators up to the job.
0:49.4	That's all coming up in Business Daily from the BBC.
0:55.2	After 20 months on the ground, Boeing's 737 Max has been cleared to carry passengers again.
1:01.3	US regulators have already given their approval. Those in Europe are expected to follow within weeks.
1:07.1	Launched into service in early 2017, the Max was Boeing's newest plane.
1:12.0	An updated version of the old 737 workhorse, it was more fuel-efficient and more environmentally friendly than previous models.
1:19.9	But in November 2018, tragedy struck.
1:22.5	We have breaking news from Indonesia. A Lionair Boeing 737, Max 8, carrying 189 people, crashed into the sea this morning.
1:32.4	Rescuers have located debris, but they do not expect to find any survivors.
1:37.1	And just four months later, it struck again.
1:39.5	Breaking news, an Ethiopian airline's flight has crashed shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa,
1:45.0	killing all 157 passengers and crew thought to be on board.
1:50.2	The airline told state media there were people of more than 30 nationalities among the dead.
	...

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