Boeing's Turmoil: 737 Max Crashes, FAA Probe And Its Ongoing Crisis | Explained

Relatives of some of the 346 passengers who were killed in two different crashes involving Boeing 737 Max planes are set to come face-to-face with the aircraft manufacturer in the court on Friday.

The relatives' lawyers will ask the federal judge to strike out a plea agreement that Boeing's manufacturer struck with federal prosecutors.

Notably, Boeing had in July agreed to plead guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to commit fraud in connection with winning regulatory approval of the Max. The settlement struck between Boeing and the Justice Department calls for the big government contractor to pay a fine and be under probation.

The agreement calls for Boeing -- based in Virginia's Arlington -- to pay a fine of at least $243.6 million, invest $455 million in compliance and safety programs, and be placed on probation for three years.

The crashes in 2018 in Indonesia and 2019 in Ethiopia together claimed the lives of 346 people. Boeing is accused of misleading regulators who approved minimal, computer-based training for 737 pilots before they could fly the Max. Boeing reportedly wanted to prevent regulators from requiring training in flight simulators, which would have increased the cost of flight operations for the airlines.

As the face-off is set to take place at the court, let's look back at the Boeing 737 Max and the subsequent crashes that killed 346 people.

BOEING 737 MAX

The single-aisle 737 MAX was launched in 2011 as Boeing's cash cow and investors keep a close watch on its production and deliveries.

The American aerospace company's 737 Max is a cost and fuel-efficient version of its very popular, best-selling 737 airline.

The MAX, powered by LEAP engines made by a joint venture between GA Aerospace and Safran, comes in four variants -- 737 MAX 7, 737 MAX 8, 737 MAX 9, and 737 MAX 10.

737 MAX 7 is the smallest of the family, with a maximum seating of 172 and a length of 35.56 meters. However, at 3,800 nautical miles (4,373 miles), it has the longest range of the four MAX variants.

The comes 737 MAX 8, which has a maximum seating capacity of 210, with a range of 3,500 nautical miles (4,028 miles). It is also the most popular variant of MAX.

The 737 MAX 9 model has been in the spotlight since the January 5 Alaska Air incident, wherein a mid-air cabin panel blowout forced the plane to make an emergency landing. The aircraft has a maximum seating of 220, a range of 3,300 nautical miles (3,798 miles), and is 42.16 meters long.

Lastly, the 737 MAX 10 is the largest MAX plane with a maximum capacity seating of 230. It is major competition for Airbus's A321neo, which dominates the single-aisle market.

What Happened In Indonesia In 2018?

On October 29, 2018, Lion Air flight JT 610, a 737 Max 8 plane, took off from Jakarta and was headed to another island in Indonesia. Merely 13 minutes after take off, the plane crashed into the Java Sea, claiming the lives of all 189 onboard.

The Max 8 variant was at the time almost brand-new as it had gained the US Federal Aviation Administration's certification for commercial service only in 2017. It had flown for only about 800 hours, a Rolling Stone report said.

An investigation was launched into the incident by Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee. The probe found that the flight crew had tried to pull the aircraft out of a dive caused by a glitch in a sensor, which ultimately led the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) to continuously tilt the plane downward.

The attention shifted towards the information that Boeing did not disclose the new flight-control system MCAS to its pilots and the airlines, the Economic Times report said.

The Indonesian investigators said that flight pilots struggled to get a hold of the control as the automated system kept tilting the nose downwards.

What Happened In Ethiopia In 2019?

Months later, on March 10 2019, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 -- another 737 Max 8 -- crashed into a field six minutes after taking off from Ethiopia's Addis Ababa, killing all 157 aboard the plane.

The flight's destination was Nairobi, Kenya.

Amid the already existing criticism of the 737 Max following the 2018 Indonesia crash, this incident only fueled the condemnation of the Max variants.

Aviation regulators around the world, including the USFAA, were quick to act and order the grounding of all the 737 Max aircraft in service. Ethiopian investigators had found that the flight crew tried to follow the prescribed protocol to override the automated system and prevent the plane from going into a dive, but failed to do so.

A Rolling Stone report said that Boeing admitted that a software error caused the crash. It had said that it was taking steps to "prevent erroneous data from causing MCAS activation".

Boeing's Turmoil

Later, the FAA formed an international team to review the safety of the 737 Max, following which Boeing reduced the monthly production by nearly 20 per cent.

In October 2019, Boeing fired its top executive, Kevin McAllister, from the commercial aeroplane division. Then in December 2019, CEO Dennis Muilenburg was also fired from the company.

In September 2020, an 18-month-long investigation conducted by the US House of Representatives found that Boeing failed in its design and development of the MAX as well as in maintaining transparency with the FAA and that the FAA also failed in oversight and certification.

In November 2020, the USFAA allowed the 737 MAX to fly again, lifting the grounding order from the aircraft. With this, Congress in December passed legislation to reform FAA's methods of certifying new airplanes, including the requirement of manufacturers to disclose certain safety-critical information to the FAA.

In April 2021, 737 Max's deliveries were once again halted by Boeing after electrical problems re-grounded a part of the fleet.

To settle the lawsuits filed against the safety oversight of the 737 Max, current and former Boeing company directors reached a $237.5 million settlement with shareholders in November 2021.

A year later, in October 2022, the FAA told Boeing that some of the major documents submitted before the panel as part of the certification review of the 737 Max 7 were incomplete and needed reassessment, Reuters reported.

Boeing in August of 2023 identified another new supplier quality issue with the 737 Max involving improperly drilled holes on the aft pressure bulkhead.

In January this year, the mid-air cabin blowout in Alaska Air-run 737 Max 9 forced the plane to make an emergency landing, prompting the FAA to ground all 171 of the Max variant and launch a probe.

The FAA also barred Boeing from increasing the production of Max but lifted the grounding orders on Max 9 after inspections were completed.

Next month, a preliminary report from the US National Transportation Safety Board revealed that the door panel that flew off the jet mid-air appeared to be missing four key bolts.

In July, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to a single felony count of conspiracy to commit fraud in connection with winning regulatory approval of the Max, agreeing to a pay fine and be placed under probation.

If this agreement between Boeing and the Justice Department gets approved by a judge, then the aerospace titan will be able to avert a federal criminal trial.