London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Sep 03, 2025

US engineers recommended grounding Boeing 737 MAX soon after second crash, report says

US engineers recommended grounding Boeing 737 MAX soon after second crash, report says

Some Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) engineers recommended grounding the Boeing (BA.N) 737 MAX in March 2019 after a second fatal crash and before the agency took action, a report released Friday said.
The Transportation Department's Office of Inspector General said in a report that its review of emails and interviews of FAA officials revealed individual engineers recommended "grounding the airplane while the accident was being investigated based on what they perceived as similarities" between two fatal Boeing 737 MAX crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia. "Yet agency officials at headquarters and the Seattle (Aircraft Certification Office) opted not to do so."

The FAA ultimately grounded the MAX on March 13, 2019 and lifted the flight prohibition order in November 2020 after Boeing made a series of software upgrades and training changes.

The crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia led to a 20-month grounding for the best-selling plane, costing Boeing more than $20 billion and prompting lawmakers to pass sweeping legislation reforming airplane certification.

Boeing declined comment.

The report FAA officials "expressed frustration that foreign civil aviation authorities were grounding the aircraft before they had data that linked the two accidents."

The report said FAA has not updated the underlying order and related guidance for its post-event risk assessment processes in over a decade and lacks "quantifiable human factors data, such as pilot reactions to non-normal situations." It also said FAA

engineers "are not all following or receiving the same guidance or training." It made seven recommendations for improvements for risk assessments and other issues.

The FAA said it agrees with the Inspector General's recommendations. "We also continue to look for additional opportunities to apply lessons learned from the Boeing 737 MAX's return to service," the agency said Friday.

The report also says following the Ethiopian Airlines crash an FAA engineer drafted a preliminary risk analysis for the MAX on March 12, 2019 that "showed a fleet risk for the MAX that was over 13 times" the agency's recommended guidelines.

"An FAA official noted at the time that the analysis suggested that there was a 25% chance of an accident in 60 days and that there were only 'a matter of days' to implement a fix."

The inspector general added the engineer's risk analysis was not completed and did not go through managerial review citing a lack of detailed flight data.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
Pickles are the latest craze among Generation Z in the United States.
Deadline Day Delivers Record £125m Isak Move and Donnarumma to City
Nestlé Removes CEO Laurent Freixe Following Undisclosed Relationship with Subordinate
Giuliani Seriously Injured in Accident – Trump to Award Him the Presidential Medal of Freedom
EU is getting aggressive: Four AfD Candidates Die Unexpectedly Ahead of North Rhine-Westphalia Local Elections
Lula and Putin Hold Strategic BRICS Discussions Ahead of Trump–Putin Summit
WhatsApp is rolling out a feature that looks a lot like Telegram.
Investigations Reveal Rise in ‘Sex-for-Rent’ Listings Across Canada Exploiting Vulnerable Tenants
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
×