Boeing CEO, Dennis A. Muilenburg, has released a video statement saying he was “sorry for the deaths” following two fatal Boeing 737 Max accidents that have been linked to Boeing’s MCAS system.
The statement came after the preliminary report into the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET302 in March which killed 157 people.
The report found that the ‘Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System’ (MCAS) had activated multiple times in the lead up the crash and that the crews had tried to use Boeing’s procedures but the aircraft continued to pitch down and the crew could not recover the aircraft.
It is believed that the MCAS activation was a result of erroneous data from the Angle of Attack (AoA) sensors.
A Lion Air 737 Max crashed in almost identical circumstances in October last year. That too has been linked to MCAS and faulty data from the AoA sensors.
Mr Muilenburg said: “The full details of what happened in the two accidents will be issued by the government authorities in the final reports,” but added “It’s apparent that in both flights the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, known as MCAS, activated in response to the erroneous angle of attack information”
All Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft have been grounded since the Ethiopian Airlines crash.
