After the Ethiopian Airlines crash two weeks ago,
countries around the world came together
to ground the Boeing 737 MAX 8
when it was found that the plane itself
may have caused the crash.
Now the question has become,
how was a self-crashing plane allowed to fly
in the first place?
Federal investigators are looking into how the FAA
approved Boeing's 737 MAX jet after similarities were found
in two deadly crashes in less than five months.
REPORTER: Investigators are eyeing the possibility
a single sensor failure sent the Lion Air 737
into a fatal nosedive,
a shortcoming apparently missed by the FAA and Boeing.
At least five pilots in the U.S. complained
about problems controlling their Boen-- uh, Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets
during critical moments of flight.
REPORTER 2: Now the union says its pilots
were not adequately trained.
We were provided a 56-minute iPad,
um, lesson,
which we could accomplish at home or wherever we chose to.
Are you kidding me?
The only training pilots had for this new plane
was an hour on an iPad.
And look, don't get me wrong,
iPads are good for a lot of things, all right?
Watching Netflix, uh, getting your child to shut up,
uh, or taking a picture
while ruining the view of everybody behind you.
It's really great for that. I don't know why you brought
an iPad to a concert, but that's you, clearly.
Now I'm at a concert watching the concert
on your shitty little TV. But whatever.
But what I don't know is why people are using an iPad
to teach pilots, right?
I don't know if an iPad is the best way to teach a pilot
how to fly a plane.
Mostly because it's hard to do anything for an hour on an iPad.
It's so distracting. You're like, "All right, lesson one.
"Here we go. Let's get started. Uh, but first a little Twitter.
Oh, here we go." And someone's like,
"Have you done your training?" "Aw, no,
but I bought some towels on Amazon."
Now, Boeing says the reason they gave the pilots iPads
is because this new plane is very similar to the old ones.
But the experts are saying
the real reason Boeing didn't do simulated training
is because it saved everyone money.
And now, look, companies are always gonna try and cut costs
to maximize profits, but that's why you have regulators.
Regulators are there to make sure that cost cutting
doesn't cut down on safety.
And that's the job of the Federal Aviation Administration.
The FAA. But it turns out somewhere along the line
the FAA went from Boeing's boss to Boeing's bitch.
NEWSMAN: In 2015, the FAA moved from focusing on enforcement
to compliance, and relying heavily
on the airlines' own safety programs
to meet FAA standards.
Since 2014, the number of enforcement actions
against airlines has dropped roughly 70%.
Scott Brenner, a former associate administrator
at the FAA, says the agency does not have the resources
to certify aircraft without the help of the manufacturer.
They are taking Boeing's word,
but Boeing is also presenting data to prove their word.
Boeing basically outguns the FAA.
They have far more expertise, and the FAA is...
has become pretty much a toothless tiger.
Yeah. It turns out that because the FAA lacks funding,
they can't afford to hire people skilled enough
to certify the planes.
So they just have to trust that the plane manufacturers
will regulate themselves.
Which is a pretty sweet deal for the plane manufacturers.
Like, I wish I could have done that in my life.
I wish I could have graded my own homework at school. Yeah?
I would've just sat there like, "None of this is right.
"A-minus. Yeah.
Yeah, I don't want to be greedy. A-minus, that sounds right."
That's not how oversight works.
Right? You've got to have someone else looking over you.
Imagine if God let us decide
whether or not to smite ourselves.
Yeah, we'd never do it. We'd probably just be like,
"Well, I did covet Gary's wife, but in my defense,
"Gary's wife got that ass.
God will understand. I mean, he made that ass."
And here's the thing, the FAA deferring to the plane makers
affects all aspects of air travel.
Like, for instance, you know how seats are getting smaller
and closer together?
Many people have argued that that's unsafe.
But the FAA says it's fine.
Why? Because the plane manufacturers
tell them that it's fine.
That seems insane to me.
Like, how far does this trust go?
Someday we're gonna be getting on a plane,
and the flight attendant's just gonna be like,
"Your seat is on the wing.
You'll be like, "Uh, is that safe?"
"Yeah, Boeing says it's fine. Just keep your arms like this.
We'll be good."
So look, until the FAA starts providing some oversight,
the least they can do is give us a more realistic understanding
of the dangers we face when we get on a plane.
That's the least, right?
Just let us know what we're getting into.
And we thought we would help them
'cause they don't have any money,
so we made this safety video for them to use.
Hello,
and welcome aboard the Boeing 737 MAX 8.
Our first priority is your safety,
right after profit.
But safety's number two.
Your aircraft is equipped with eight emergency exit doors,
but to keep costs down, four of them are painted on.
Which ones?
That's the fun.
When seated, keep your seat belt fastened
in the event of unexpected turbulence,
or unexpected nose dives,
because our flight software runs on Windows 98.
-(alarm beeping) -Oop. (chuckles)
There she goes again.
We'll get you to your destination safely,
thanks to the top training our pilots receive
from Boeing's Angry Birds-enabled iPads.
Because flying a Boeing is a lot like Angry Birds--
you go up, you go down, and everybody's angry.
So on behalf of our whole crew
of this Boeing 737 MAX 8...
ALL: Let's hope we make it.