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At tense meeting with Boeing executives, pilots fumed about being left in dark on plane software
Business
At tense meeting with Boeing executives, pilots fumed about being left in dark on plane software
By Aaron Gregg, Jonathan O'Connell, Andrew Ba Tran and Faiz Siddiqui
March 13 at 9:38 PM
Boeing executives sat down last November with pilots at the Allied Pilots Association’s low-slung brick headquarters in Fort Worth. ... Tensions were running high. One of Boeing’s new jets — hailed by the company as an even more reliable version of Boeing’s stalwart 737 — had crashed into the ocean off Indonesia shortly after takeoff, killing all 189 people on board the flight operated by Lion Air.
After the crash, Boeing issued a bulletin disclosing that this line of planes, known as the 737 Max 8, was equipped with a new type of software as part of the plane’s automated functions. Some pilots were furious that they were not told about the new software when the plane was unveiled.
Dennis Tajer, a 737 captain who attended the meeting with Boeing executives, recalled, “They said, ‘Look, we didn’t include it because we have a lot of people flying on this and we didn’t want to inundate you with information.’ ” ... “I’m certain I did say, ‘Well that’s not acceptable,’ ” said Tajer, a leader in the association representing American Airlines pilots.
A Boeing spokesman said the company disputes that any of its executives made that statement. ... On Wednesday, federal regulators ordered the grounding of the 737 Max 8 and a similar plane, the 737 Max 9, after another crash involving the plane, on this occasion in Ethiopia on Sunday. Many other countries had already acted.
....
Ashley Halsey III and Luz Lazo contributed to this report.
Aaron Gregg covers the defense industry and government contractors for the Washington Post's business section. Follow https://twitter.com/Post_AG
Jonathan O'Connell is a reporter focused on economic development, corporate accountability and the Trump Organization. Follow https://twitter.com/OConnellPostBiz
Andrew Ba Tran is an investigative data reporter. Tran shared in winning the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting in 2018. Follow https://twitter.com/abtran
Faiz Siddiqui is a reporter with The Washington Post's transportation team. His coverage includes Metro, Uber and Lyft. Follow https://twitter.com/faizsays
At tense meeting with Boeing executives, pilots fumed about being left in dark on plane software
By Aaron Gregg, Jonathan O'Connell, Andrew Ba Tran and Faiz Siddiqui
March 13 at 9:38 PM
Boeing executives sat down last November with pilots at the Allied Pilots Association’s low-slung brick headquarters in Fort Worth. ... Tensions were running high. One of Boeing’s new jets — hailed by the company as an even more reliable version of Boeing’s stalwart 737 — had crashed into the ocean off Indonesia shortly after takeoff, killing all 189 people on board the flight operated by Lion Air.
After the crash, Boeing issued a bulletin disclosing that this line of planes, known as the 737 Max 8, was equipped with a new type of software as part of the plane’s automated functions. Some pilots were furious that they were not told about the new software when the plane was unveiled.
Dennis Tajer, a 737 captain who attended the meeting with Boeing executives, recalled, “They said, ‘Look, we didn’t include it because we have a lot of people flying on this and we didn’t want to inundate you with information.’ ” ... “I’m certain I did say, ‘Well that’s not acceptable,’ ” said Tajer, a leader in the association representing American Airlines pilots.
A Boeing spokesman said the company disputes that any of its executives made that statement. ... On Wednesday, federal regulators ordered the grounding of the 737 Max 8 and a similar plane, the 737 Max 9, after another crash involving the plane, on this occasion in Ethiopia on Sunday. Many other countries had already acted.
....
Ashley Halsey III and Luz Lazo contributed to this report.
Aaron Gregg covers the defense industry and government contractors for the Washington Post's business section. Follow https://twitter.com/Post_AG
Jonathan O'Connell is a reporter focused on economic development, corporate accountability and the Trump Organization. Follow https://twitter.com/OConnellPostBiz
Andrew Ba Tran is an investigative data reporter. Tran shared in winning the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting in 2018. Follow https://twitter.com/abtran
Faiz Siddiqui is a reporter with The Washington Post's transportation team. His coverage includes Metro, Uber and Lyft. Follow https://twitter.com/faizsays
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