[Airplane engine sound]
[David Common] When it launched the 737 Max was Boeing's answer to stiff competition.
A fuel-efficient workhorse to rival Airbus
which has been eating Boeing's market share.
And there were significant design changes from previous incarnations of the 737.
Bigger engines shifted forward.
On takeoff that could mean the nose tips upwards.
[Flight simulation audio]
And that could risk a stall.
One that could lead to a crash.
Many pilots practice for such an event.
[Flight simulation audio]
To compensate, Boeing added software called MCAS.
If instruments detected the nose getting too high
it would automatically prompt the stabilizer on the tail to pitch the aircraft down.
Their problem was they forgot to tell the pilots about it.
Without understanding pilots could inadvertently fight with the MCAS.
If it malfunctions they may not understand why
or even spot and solve the problem.
Rather than something being critically wrong with the airplane
I think that the training and the qualifications
of some of these people that are on it are inadequate'
American regulators did not require Boeing to directly inform pilots
that the MCAS software existed
or order new training to be familiar with it.
For some in aviation that's the proble.
These type of anomalies are like little gremlins.
You can be flying for several hundred thousand hours before it rears its ugly head.
So why not just do the training?
Well taking pilots out of planes and in to simulators cost money and time.
An expense in a highly competitive raiser margin industry.
After the Lion Air crash in Indonesia
Boeing did issue a bulletin to pilots about the existence of MCAS
and how to deal with it.
But it didn't order training.
Of course, it's not known if the MCAS played a role in this latest crash.
Though Boeing is now upgrading the software.
The FAA anticipates that be done by next month.
Boeing says this will make an already safe aircraft even safer.
David Common, CBC News Toronto.
the max Jets are key to Boeing's future there
are billions of dollars worth still on order they're made in part by workers at
a plant in Washington State and that's where Breyer Stewart went today to see
how this is hitting them it's the afternoon shift change at the Boeing
factory 12,000 people work here the home of the 737 max jet an employee told CBC
that the groundings are the talk on the factory floor and in the community - if
Boeing wasn't here our business wouldn't be here and so yeah it's nerve-racking a
little bit to know what might come of all this
Greg Heller's parents run a business that has contracts with Boeing but
there's another reason he's paying close attention as a flight attendant I'm glad
I'm not flying that particular aircraft for my company but this plane drives all
of the work here crews assemble them putting the final touches on jets
destined for Airlines around the world including Canada of the 5,800 orders
Boeing currently has four planes 80% of them are for the 737 max it's the
fastest selling aircraft in Boeing's history which is why there's a lot at
stake for the company what do you think it's
like in that factory and in the offices right now devastating you know I think
everybody is questioning what did they miss what could they have done better
it's a tragic outcome to see your product take lives
Peter Lemmy worked as a Boeing engineer and manager he still believes the 737
max is safe but says it's disappointing the company didn't update its software
earlier we knew what had happened to Lyon air
we knew that MKS had some design deficiencies Boeing did not take that
information and go out in the fleet and fix all those airplanes with a sense of
urgency this journalist covers the aviation industry and says the
groundings are going to be painful for the company and you declare an airplane
to be the fastest best-selling in the world when it has some problems you're
going to get a lot more scrutiny still he believes the long-term outlook
good considering that Boeing makes around 50 planes a month here which
means it will take the company seven years to fulfill all the orders it
currently hits briar Stewart CBC News Renton Washington