Two years after nearly 160 people died in a crash. A
major change in course from Aeronautics company Boeing
Boeing. Now accepting responsib for the crash and
acknowledging that it's 7 37 max airplane which went
down shortly after takeoff in Ethiopia in 2019. Was
flawed. Newsy's national correspondent James Packer
joins me now live tonight from Burbank airport in
California. James when that plane went down and I
remember it because I was on the air covering this. It
was the second crash involving a Boeing 737 max in six
months. Yeah, and Natalie at the time, it was like the
dream plane of the aviation world. It was supposed to
be this big new development for airlines and fo
government and cargo operators. And then with that
second crash, it quickly became the bane of Boeing's
existence. And now today with this agreement with the
victim's families, they are taking full acceptance of
responsibility for the crash in Ethiopia, which is a
huge shift from what they initially set a massive deal
with Boeing. It is the end of the end admitting fault
for the 7 37 max crash that killed more than 150 peopl
in Ethiopia. The second in a pair of crashes that
grounded a worldwide fleet of airliners and cratered
the company into crisis. The most important thing for
Boeing right now is to put this as far behind them as
they possibly can. The families of those killed on
Ethiopian airlines flight 3 to 2 in 2019, agreeing to a
deal that will limit the scope of further investigat
into the crash, but ensure settlement amounts are
negotiated in the U.S. Likely meaning higher payouts
for families of african victims who might otherwise
have chased smaller sums. I think that the writing was
on the wall. We saw it in our discussions with Boei
brian Kabateck has helped negotiate settlements for the
families of victims in the first max crash. He was not
involved in this case A lot of times these are very
difficult conversations to have because family members
want to teach a lesson. Family members say things like
we want to take the corporation down. We want to se
people go to prison. We want to see effective changes
taking place and as the lawyer, your job is to report
to them that the only thing we actually can do is
recover civil damages in cases the deal opens the door
to massive settlements for each family, which will be
negotiated separately. It's a clear signal of Boeing's
fault. Finally, something they're willing to admit.
These tragedies continue to weigh heavily on our hearts
and minds. The deal a massive shift from Boeing's
initial posture after the crash is under then Ceo
Dennis Muilenburg, the company shifted blame. The
history of our industry shows most accidents are caused
by a chain of events. This again is the case here, but
it was the company's own design and conduct that
investigators found was largely to blame for the crash
is shoddy oversight, concealed concerns and a faulty
system about which they left pilots in the dark M. Kas.
The maneuvering characteristics augmentation system is
something that still exists on the 7 37 max. It's
supposed to help avoid a stall when the plane is going
so slow or is pitched up so high airflow over the wings
all but stops, the plane loses lift and the plane drops.
The M. Cast forces the nose of the plane down. If it
thinks the plane is stalling, in that case nose down
would recover a stall. It knows whether the plane is
stalling by looking at readings from two sensors on the
nose of the plane, sensors that tell the system how
high it's pitched. The YMCA's has changed significantl
now but in the original design, the one on the two
flights that crashed. If just one of those sensors was
wrong, the Incas would push the nose down anyway. But
if the plane wasn't actually stalling it would prod
a nose dive. Not a stall recovery. The focus has
changed so much since then a repeat scenario wouldn't
be possible. They're probably s now, I got to tell
you than ever. But the holes in the M cast showed the
degree to which Boeing's own design is to blame for the
crash is Boeing is not the same as it was two years ago
but they have more work to do the FAA. Still getting
white hot scrutiny for its oversight of bone which
missed or overlooked problems w the M. Kas, I can
say with confidence that we are doing more for
certification oversight and we're doing it more
systematically than we were this time last year. Just
this week, Reuters reporting the FAA told Boeing some
of the people it has overseeing plane safety
certification aren't qualified and aren't meeting FAA
expectations. A new law mandates the FAA individually
approved. Every person Boeing wants to assign to
certification tasks. Another at to prove the FAA
has changed as Boeing prepares to bring out the
checkbook and an admission of fault that seemed
inconceivable just two years ago, someone who resolved
the number of cases for the 7 37 Indonesia Lion air
crash. I can say that Boeing has been fair in the
negotiations and I suspect they will do the same with
Ethiopia. I would fly Boeing any Boeing product
tomorrow and in fact I do all the time. So you know the
next big step here for Boeing is doing things right fo
long enough Natalie that they start to earn back some
of the trust they lost in this crisis for pilots and
airlines. On the airline front. I'll tell you one big
indication of where they're headed there already,
ordering millions of dollars worth of 737 maxes.
Newsy's James Packard with the latest on that story
going coming back from the brink there. Thanks so much
James