US Congress slams Boeing in searing 737 MAX report

The preliminary report form the US House Transportation Committee on Boeing's grounded 737 MAX aircraft was released on Friday, accusing the aviation giant and regulators of allowing a "fundamentally flawed" plane into the skies.

In 2018 and 2019, two 737 MAX crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia claimed 346 lives. Boeing initially pushed hypotheses that the incidents were based on human error, but it later became clear that they were caused in part by a design flaw in flight maneuvering software.

"Boeing's design and development of the 737 MAX was marred by technical design failures, lack of transparency with both regulators and customers, and efforts to obfuscate information about the operation of the aircraft," the report read.

For the Ethiopian Airlines crash in March 2019, Boeing engineers and officials have also been blamed for brushing off concerns brought up after the Lion Air crash in Indonesia in October 2018.

"Both Boeing and the FAA gambled with the public's safety in the aftermath of the Lion Air crash," the committee argued.

The report added that the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) was also at fault for deeming the aircraft compliant with safety standards, saying this showed "a critical need for legislative and regulatory reforms."

Since the accidents, Boeing staff, especially former CEO Dennis Muilenburg, have repeatedly been criticized for their cavalier attitudes towards the disasters and for refusing to apologize.

Despite several attempts to address the plane's issues, the 737 MAX remains grounded. Boeing has said it expects to get the aircraft re-approved by regulators in mid-2020.

es/msh (AP, dpa)