Boeing 737 Max Safety Controversies

Submission 2,221

Overview

Boeing 737 Max Safety Controversies refers to ongoing discussions about the build quality and safety of American-made Boeing commercial aircraft. Two newly minted Boeing 737 Max 8 planes leaving Indonesia and Ethiopia crashed in the late 2010s, with the model subsequently being grounded globally for 20 months to allow for safety investigations. In early 2024, several instances of plane malfunctions were recorded on Boeing 737 Max 9 flights, including a panel flying off an Alaskan Airlines flight. In March 2024, a former Boeing quality control manager turned whistleblower was found dead in the midst of legal depositions when he alleged that Boeing was cutting corners and reusing faulty parts to hasten production speeds. The numerous controversies and media coverage resulted in a public outcry against the company, as well as memes mocking it.

Background

The Boeing 737 Max was announced as a competitor to the Airbus in 2011, taking its maiden flight on January 29th, 2016. The model suffered two fatal crashes before the year 2020, with Lion Air Flight 610 crashing in Indonesia in late 2018,^[1] and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashing in early 2019.^[2] A total of 346 people died as a result of both tragedies.

According to subsequent investigations, the plane's Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS, was a contributing factor in the accidents. The MCAS system was developed by and is unique to Boeing aircraft, with some experts asserting that a lack of pilot training in handling the then-new flight stabilizing feature contributed to the two fatal crashes. Subsequent investigations found that Boeing did not fully inform operators about MCAS and that there were shortcomings in the FAA's certification process for the aircraft.^[3]

Vox's YouTube^[4] channel published a video essay exploring the reasons for the two fatal plane crashes on April 15th, 2019, gathering over 14 million plays in four years (seen below).

Developments

DOWNFALL: The Case Against Boeing

On February 18th, 2022, Rory Kennedy's documentary DOWNFALL: The Case Against Boeing^[10] was released on Netflix. The movie delved into the fatal 787 Max 8 crashes of 2018 and 2019 and pointed to failures on the part of Boeing to maintain build quality on newer models (excerpt from the documentary shown below).

There were many decades when Boeing did extraordinary things by focusing on excellence and safety and ingenuity. Those three virtues were seen as the key to profit. It could work, and beautifully. And then they were taken over by a group that decided Wall Street was the end-all, be-all. There needs to be a balance in play, so you have to elect representatives that hold the companies responsible for the public interest, rather than just lining their own pocketbooks.

2024 Malfunctions

On January 5th, 2024, Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 flying from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, Canada saw a door plug toward the rear of the plane blow out soon after the plane took off. A TikTok posted by user @vy.covers was reposted to /r/aviation on January 5th by Redditor /u/macktruck6666^[5] with the caption, "10 week old 737 MAX Alaska Airlines 1282 successful return to Portland." The post gathered over 10,000 upvotes in two months (seen below).

According to a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation, the door plug was attached to the plane but was not bolted on correctly during assembly.^[6] On January 12th, passengers from the plane filed a class-action lawsuit against Boeing, citing physical and emotional injuries. Some passengers reported bleeding from the ear and bruising from the rapid depressurization of the plane, with one teenager having his shirt ripped off his body.^[7]

On March 7th, 2024, BNO News^[9] posted a clip of a United Airlines Boeing 777 flight losing a tire while taking off from San Francisco. The post gathered over 18,000 likes in a week (seen below).

On March 11th, over 50 passengers on an Australia to New Zealand flight were injured after a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner "nosedived." A post regarding the incident gathered over 3,000 upvotes on /r/technology^[8] in less than a day.

Online Reactions

On January 6th, 2024, X^[11] user @MrFoolStack made a post that read, "Your daily reminder that Boeing spent the last decade replace their engineers in the leadership hierarchy with non-technical management to focus on boosting shareholder returns instead of building safe products. Capitalism kills." The post gathered over 26,000 likes in two months (seen below, top).

On January 24th, X^[12] user @lolennui wrote, "Whew, call me a Boeing 737 cause I’m barely holding it together," gathering over 23,000 likes in two months (seen below, bottom).

Other internet users blamed corporate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies for Boeing's failures, with X^[13] user @WallStreetSilv writing, "DEI is going to result in a crash costing the lives of hundreds of people. Boeing and the airlines need to stop playing politics and start focusing on the best engineers, QA testers, pilots and every other position in their companies." The post gathered over 4,000 likes in two months (seen below, left).

On March 7th, the satirical website The Babylon Bee^[14] made a post that read, "Boeing CEO Assures Nervous Fliers That All 737 Aircraft Are Built To The Highest Diversity Standards," gathering over 12,000 likes in five days (seen below, right).

Also on March 7th, 2024, John Oliver posted a segment from Last Week Tonight discussing Boeing's failures and the missteps that may have caused them. The YouTube^[15] video gathered nearly 4 million views in five days (seen below).