These are worrying hours for Boeing Co. and tragic ones for 157 families. The second crash of a 737 Max jet in five months raises inevitable questions about the safety of the U.S. manufacturer’s flagship single-aisle aircraft, even though it’s still not known what caused the latest disaster. The company must respond with total transparency and hope there was nothing it could have done to have avoided Sunday’s crash in Ethiopia.
We don’t know whether what happened to the Ethiopian Airlines plane was the same thing that brought down a Lion Air jet in October and a rush to judgment helps nobody, including the people who’ve lost their lives and their loved ones.
Superficially, there are similarities: Both jets were almost brand new, both experienced difficulties shortly after takeoff and asked to return to the airport. But the details are absolutely crucial here.
