Boeing Struggles Following Ethiopia Crash

Boeing is struggling to secure shareholder confidence following the March 10 crash of one of its 737 MAX model crafts that has departed Ethiopia and was headed for Nairobi, killing everyone on board.

A report into the incident recommended that Boeing should review the flight control system before returning the 737 MAX fleet to service. Concerns with the aircraft’s Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) had already been flagged.  The MCAS automatically lowers the aircraft nose when it detects a stall or loss of airspeed. Problems with its operations have also been connected to a Lion Air crash in October of last year in Malaysia.

The CEO of Boeing has this week apologised following the fatal crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia. However, he maintained that the safety systems of the 737 MAX jets were properly designed despite pledging to make them safer still. He also claimed that the pilots did not “completely” follow procedures, despite Ethiopian officials previously stating that the pilots flying Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 repeatedly performed the required procedure in an attempt to regain control.

Boeing recently announced that its earnings fell 21 per cent in the first quarter of 2019 as a result of the incident.