Blog 5: Boeing 737 Case Study

In this blog post, I will discuss background information related to the context I have selected for my final project. I will be exploring the Boeing 737 Max crashes and subsequent groundings which occurred between 2018 and 2020. This case is a current, real-world controversy that involves engineering, public policy, the environment, and members of the public. 

In 2018 and 2019 the Boeing 737 Max passenger aircraft was involved in two major plane crashes which resulted in the death of 346 people. Following these crashes the aircraft was grounded from all travel across the world from March 2019 and December 2020. This 20-month grounding by the Federal Aviation Association (FAA) was the longest recorded for a U.S. airliner and cost Boeing $20 billion in direct costs and an estimated $60 in indirect losses (Isidore, 2020). While the plane was grounded, a series of investigations were conducted by the FAA, Congress, and multiple other government agencies. Reviews by engineering panels discovered design and training issues associated with the Boeing 737 Max.

The moral question I will be exploring in my final project is what role did engineers and policymakers play in the failure of the Boeing 737 Max aircraft? Furthermore, I would like to know how the key actors and stakeholders are being held accountable to prevent future crashes. This question is important to consider to understand what happened and how we can prevent future tragedies.

Comments

  1. rf2021October 20, 2021 at 6:54 PM

    Airplane crashes are interesting/concerning-- do you remember when a flight between Malaysia and China disappeared over the Indian Ocean a few years ago? I still don’t understand how, with modern technology, a plane can just disappear. Anyway, the Boeing crashes sound like an interesting topic. Were the training issues related to training pilots to fly the planes or training people to do proper maintenance/checks or…?

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