UNDER PRESSURE

Boeing to Make ‘Software Changes’ to 737 Max 8 After Crashes

Australia and Singapore become latest countries to ground the aircraft.

Boeing will deploy a software upgrade across its 737 Max fleet “in the coming weeks” following the deadly Ethiopian Airlines crash, the company has announced. The crash—which was the second involving a 737 Max after the Lion Air crash off Indonesia in October—has wiped billions of dollars off the market value of the world’s biggest plane maker. In a statement that didn’t refer directly to Sunday’s crash, which killed all 157 people on board, the company said it has “been developing a flight-control software enhancement for the 737 Max, designed to make an already safe aircraft even safer.” Despite the announcement, Australia and Singapore have followed Indonesia and China in suspending operations of all Boeing 737 Max aircraft in and out of their airports. U.S. aviation experts from the Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday joined the investigation into the Ethiopian Airlines crash.

URGENT ALARM

Ethiopian Airlines Crash: Is New Boeing Jet Unsafe?

Clive Irving