Last week, the Boeing CEO said they were making steady progress towards certification of the software update for the grounded 737 Max and were committed to making it one of the safest airplanes ever to fly. But fixing the software problem might turn out to be easier for the beleaguered manufacturer than restoring consumer trust in the safety of the aircraft.
The entire chain of events involving the 737 Max — beginning with the fatal crash of Lion Air in Indonesia on October 29 — have thrown up a number of vital questions for which air travelers need answers. First, how did Boeing fail to detect the serious flaw in the flight control system before releasing it into the market? Second, why did it not provide adequate safeguards against possible erroneous activation of the flight control system? Third, how did the manufacturer overlook the need for extensive training of pilots to fly the new aircraft? The manufacturer needs to come clean on all these issues.
