Flying Blind: The 737 MAX Tragedy and the Fall of Boeing

Bloomberg reporter Robison debuts with a chilling account of the corporate mismanagement and regulatory failures that led to the crashes of two Boeing 737 MAX 8 airplanes and the deaths of 346 people in 2018 and 2019. According to Robison, Boeing underwent a cultural shift in the 1990s and early 2000s, abandoning its technically proficient and ethically transparent production culture in favor of a shareholder-focused structure in which safety took a back seat to profit. The new strategy of pursuing “more for less” guided Boeing’s redesign of the 737: to save time and money, technical complications were fixed with software solutions that pilots found difficult to troubleshoot, even though Boeing promised airlines the 737 MAX wouldn’t require additional pilot training. Robison highlights how the Clinton and Bush administrations’ restructuring of the FAA to adopt a more “customer service” approach to manufacturers allowed these and other issues to fly under the radar, until two crashes in the span of five months led to the grounding of the entire 737 MAX fleet for 20 months to make crucial fixes. Robison also profiles grieving family members who fought for a proper investigation into the crashes and successfully sued Boeing for damages. The result is a vital and enraging portrait of an avoidable tragedy. (Nov.)