Boeing did not share key information with regulators about the flight control software aboard the 737 Max years before the software was involved in two accidents that killed 346 people, according to a government surveillance report released Wednesday.
The report, from the Department of Transportation inspector general, found that Boeing had downplayed the software, known as MCAS, during the plane’s certification process, presenting it to Federal Aviation Administration officials as operating only under limited conditions.
Grounding the plane after the second accident in March last year cost Boeing billions of dollars, including compensation paid to victims and airlines. It also led to the removal of the company’s chief executive, sparked government consultations and raised questions about the rushed effort to build and approve the Max.
Wednesday’s report said the MCAS system “was not an area of emphasis in the FAA’s certification efforts, and therefore did not receive a more detailed review or discussion between the FAA and Boeing engineers.” The crashes were caused in part by the software, which automatically pushed the nose of the aircraft down.
During the certification process, Boeing also significantly updated the MCAS, but did not provide the agency with documents detailing the changes, leaving agency officials in charge of pilot training in the dark, according to the report. The internal minutes of the Boeing meeting also show that the company decided to portray MCAS as a modification to an existing system in part because it could affect the certification process.
The FAA would not carry out a detailed analysis of the system until January 2019, months after the first accident of a 737 Max, in Indonesia. That February, the agency and Boeing agreed on a plan to update the software. A month later, a second Max plane crashed in Ethiopia.
In a statement, Boeing appreciated the report’s findings and said it was committed to security and transparency.
“We have dedicated all the necessary resources to ensure that the improvements to the 737 Max are comprehensive and fully tested,” said Boeing. “We have also taken a number of actions to further enhance our company’s safety culture.”
The surveillance report was released publicly within hours of the completion of a series of test flights of the updated Max, which the FAA described in a statement as a “significant milestone” to return the aircraft to service.
The agency is still reviewing data collected during the flights, which started Monday, to determine if the plane is safe. But even if its pilots and engineers are satisfied with Boeing’s updates, there are several key steps left before the plane can return to the skies. They included determining what pilot training, if any, is necessary; publish a final report; rescind a grounding order; and preparing the planes for flight again.
