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Boeing handling Max disasters like Korea did with Sewol

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The pile of debris from the deadly crash of Ethiopian Airlines' Boeing 737 Max 8 in March. AP-Yonhap
The pile of debris from the deadly crash of Ethiopian Airlines' Boeing 737 Max 8 in March. AP-Yonhap

By Oh Young-jin

The way Boeing Co. is handling the aftermath of the two recent deadly crashes of its passenger jets bears a worrisome resemblance to Korea's ham-fisted management of the April 16, 2014, sinking of the ferry Sewol, the nation's worst peacetime disaster. What can make the Boeing case worse is its alleged failure to act quickly after the first disaster so as to prevent the second.

The world's leading passenger aircraft maker's troubles involve its 737 Max 8 jets, while the Sewol was a maritime tragedy. What brings the two different types of mishaps together is complacency, incompetence and crassness shown by Boeing and its leader, reminding one of what went wrong leading to Korea's sea disaster that killed 304 people, mostly high school students on a field trip.

On Oct. 29, a 737 Max 8 jet of Indonesia's Lion Air crashed into the Java Sea near Jakarta, killing all 189 passengers and crew. Less than five months later, on March 10, an Ethiopian Airlines Max 8 crashed just outside Addis Ababa, killing all 157 on board. A problem with anti-stall software has been singled out as the cause of both crashes.

After the first crash, Boeing dragged its feet, failing to advise 56 operators to ground 350 Max 8s. The second crash prompted a worldwide grounding of the planes and Boeing then committed publicly to changing the software. But Boeing was still not taking resolute action.

Boeing CEO Dennis A. Muilenburg
Boeing CEO Dennis A. Muilenburg

Without waiting for Boeing's advice, Chinese aviation authorities stopped the operation of about 100 Maxes in service with its carriers. President Donald Trump gave the grounding order in the U.S. when none was coming from Boeing or federal authorities.

The Max is an upgrade of the 737 model that dates back to the 1960s.

Needless to say, Boeing's slow response stems in no small part from complacency.

U.S. aviation authorities also can't escape responsibility because it is their job to ensure aircraft meet the highest safety standards. Boeing and the authorities have to prove they didn't take the Max's new safety features for granted and gave them as rigorous a test as they should. After all, they were so familiar with 737s.

Financial Times business commentator John Gapper wrote a column titled "Boeing's hubris blinded it to a danger," a mitigation report about his earlier ill-placed show of faith in Boeing and authorities after the Max mishaps.

In the case of the Sewol, a second-hand ship imported from Japan, renovation for extra cabins and overloading required the extra discharge of ballast water, depriving the ship of "restorative" power to prevent it capsizing during a fatal sharp turn.

The operator, Chonghaejin Marine, ignored pleas from some of the crew and became complacent because its practices earned it more money and there had not been any major incidents.

It took one Sewol mishap to bring down the government of Park Geun-hye whose incompetence was illustrated in the mishandling of the disaster. Some blamed the loss of a "golden hour" rescue opportunity on Park's unaccounted-for seven hours after the incident. Public anger partially fueled the candlelight vigils that led to her impeachment.

During her visit to distressed families hoping for rescue news, Park infamously pointed to government officials and staff, "They are here to take the blame for anything going wrong," while excusing herself. It made her an object of public ridicule.

Nadia Milleron, mother of Samya Stumo, reacts during a news conference where attorneys for the family announced a lawsuit against Boeing, Thursday, April, 4, in Chicago. Stumo died in the March 10 crash of the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 jet shortly after takeoff. AP-Yonhap
Nadia Milleron, mother of Samya Stumo, reacts during a news conference where attorneys for the family announced a lawsuit against Boeing, Thursday, April, 4, in Chicago. Stumo died in the March 10 crash of the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 jet shortly after takeoff. AP-Yonhap

The families of the 157 who died in the second crash must have felt a great deal of pain because if Boeing had acted promptly, their loved ones could have been saved.

But it didn't. And in his videotaped message, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg sounded similar to Park.

"We remain confident in the fundamental safety of the 737 Max," he said. "When the Max returns to the skies with the software changes to the MCAS (Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System)?function, it will be among the safest airplanes ever to fly."

Did Muilenburg or his staff think of the anguish felt by the families of those killed when issuing this crass statement defending its product?

It may be true that the software update will bring back the Max but how does Muilenburg plan to bring back the dead? No software changes will restore any of the 346 lost lives.

He also said: "We at Boeing take the responsibility to build and deliver airplanes to our airline customers and to the flying public that are safe to fly… This is what we do at Boeing." We disagree.

By and large his statement is aimed at assuaging shareholders and Muilenburg is having modest success, if a recent rebound in the Boeing share price is any indication.

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 Max aircraft are parked at the Southern California Logistics Airport on March 27, in Victorville, California. AFP-Yonhap
Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 Max aircraft are parked at the Southern California Logistics Airport on March 27, in Victorville, California. AFP-Yonhap

One question to the CEO is whether his company would have acted differently if an accident (God forbid!) took place closer to his key shareholders?

One note to him involves the response to an inquiry to the company's Korean office about an apology advertisement in a Europe-based, Japanese-owned newspaper. Boeing Korea relayed its official stance from Seattle, saying it placed the ad in the Monthly Aerospace & Defense Magazine in Korea. I wonder why it was put in a trade publication if the company wanted to ensure the flying public was informed.

One trivial matter is the caption in the CEO's video, at the upper left corner, that says, "Muilenburg: Boeing sorry for lives lost in 737 Max accident." Shouldn't it be plural, "accidents"? Just a thought.


Oh Young-jin (
foolsdie@gmail.com, foolsdie5@koreatimes.co.kr) is the digital managing editor of The Korea Times.


Oh Young-jin foolsdie5@koreatimes.co.kr


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