The Federal Aviation Administration’s own analysis reportedly showed Boeing 737 MAX jets could have one fatal crash every two or three years—but it decided to allow the planes to fly anyway. The Wall Street Journal reports that U.S. regulators carried out an analysis showing the MAX could become one of the most accident-prone airliners in decades if its design wasn’t changed. The analysis came in November 2018—after the Lion Air crash in Indonesia, but before the Ethiopia Airlines crash. It predicted as many as 15 similar catastrophic accidents globally over the life of the MAX fleet, which was expected to span between 30 to 45 years, unless fixes were made to an automated flight-control system. After completing the risk assessment, the FAA decided to allow the MAX to remain in service with two safeguards—installing revised flight-control software and telling crews how to respond to a misfire. An FAA spokesman said: “It was clear from the beginning that an unsafe condition existed,” adding that the analysis “provided additional context in helping determine the mitigation action.”