Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

'We know we made mistakes' on 737 MAX: Boeing CEO

Published 10/28/2019, 11:08 PM
Updated 10/28/2019, 11:08 PM
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Boeing Chairman, President and CEO Dennis Muilenburg  speaks at the New York Economic club luncheon in New York City

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Boeing Chairman, President and CEO Dennis Muilenburg speaks at the New York Economic club luncheon in New York City

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boeing (NYSE:BA) Co Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg will acknowledge on Tuesday that the aircraft manufacturer made mistakes, as he appears at a congressional hearing on two 737 MAX crashes that killed 346 people, according to written testimony made public on Monday.

"We have learned and are still learning from these accidents, Mr. Chairman. We know we made mistakes and got some things wrong," Muilenburg will tell the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee.

The testimony, which was first reported by Reuters and made public later on Monday, added that the company had made improvements to the now-grounded 737 MAX airplane "that will ensure that accidents like these never happen again."

Muilenburg, who was stripped of his title as Boeing chairman by the board earlier this month, will also testify before the U.S. House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Wednesday.

U.S. airlines have canceled flights into January and February because of the grounding and the Federal Aviation Administration is not expected to approve the 737 MAX's ungrounding until December at the earliest.

"We also know we can and must do better," Muilenburg's testimony says. It also expresses "deepest sympathies to the families and loved ones" of those killed, noting the hearing would be taking place on the anniversary of the crash of Lion Air Flight 610 in Indonesia that killed 189 people.

Muilenburg visited the Indonesian embassy in Washington on Monday to meet with the country's ambassador, offer condolences and pay respects to those lost on the flight, Boeing said in a statement.

Muilenburg's prepared testimony for Tuesday said that when the 737 MAX returns, "it will be one of the safest airplanes ever to fly."

In March, after a 737 MAX crash of Ethiopian Airlines 302 killed 157 people, the plane was grounded worldwide.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker told Reuters last week that the 737 MAX "won't fly unless 99.9% of the American public and American policymakers are convinced that it's absolutely safe."

Indonesian investigators reported on Friday that Boeing acting without adequate oversight from U.S. regulators and failed to grasp risks in the design of cockpit software on the 737 MAX, sowing the seeds for Lion Air 610 that also involved errors by airline workers and crew.

'LONGER THAN EXPECTED'

Muilenburg noted that both crashes involved the repeated activation of a flight control software function known as MCAS after it received faulty sensor input.

Boeing's development of that software has come under criticism in reports and from lawmakers and the company is adding safeguards to the system. Muilenburg said the changes would "eliminate the possibility of even extremely unlikely risks that are unrelated to the accident."

Boeing has admitted few mistakes since the two fatal crashes. Earlier this month, the FAA questioned why Boeing withheld instant messages from a former pilot for months that raised questions about MCAS.

In May, Boeing acknowledged it did not tell the FAA for 13 months that it inadvertently made an alarm alerting pilots to a mismatch of flight data optional on the 737 MAX, instead of standard as on earlier 737s. The company insisted the missing display represented no safety risk.

Muilenburg acknowledged that getting the plane in the air "has taken longer than we originally expected, but we're committed to getting it right, and return-to-service timing is completely dependent on answering each and every question from the FAA."

He added that "regulators should approve the return of the MAX to the skies only after they have applied the most rigorous scrutiny, and are completely satisfied as to the plane's safety.

The flying public deserves nothing less."

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Boeing Chairman, President and CEO Dennis Muilenburg  speaks at the New York Economic club luncheon in New York City

U.S. Representative Peter DeFazio, who chairs the House panel, has one main question for Boeing at Wednesday's hearing: "How the hell did this happen?"

Latest comments

What about the dream liners?
God bless Boeing and America!!
CEO greed
We know we made mistakes, the CEO mantra, every time they put profits ahead of safety and lives - "time for "white collar," manslaughter, criminal charges!"
Don Getty Ah nobody cares. Even Fed Powell doesn't care. He's funding BA's stock performance.
Let's not forget the millions of passengers Boeing safely allowed to travel over the past decades.
The only reason these people are dead is corporate greed - sorry, that what we did in the past, doesn't mean anything!
One dead is one to many
Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.