‘Downfall’ documentary casts the tale of Boeing’s 737 MAX debacle as tech tragedy
Alan Boyle
Sat, February 19, 2022
Boeing workers and VIPs surround the first 737 MAX jet to roll out in Renton, Wash., in 2015. (Credit: Boeing)
The missteps traced in “Downfall: The Case Against Boeing” — Netflix’s new documentary about Boeing’s troubled 737 MAX jet — are the stuff of Greek tragedy.
Under the direction of filmmaker Rory Kennedy, the youngest child of Robert F. Kennedy, “Downfall” recounts how the aerospace giant cut corners in a race to compete against Airbus, and pressed mightily to minimize the known problems with a computerized flight control system that was capable of causing the 737 MAX to go into a fatal dive.
The result? Not just one, but two catastrophic crashes — first in Indonesia, in 2018, and only months later in Ethiopia. The combined death toll amounted to 346 people. The jets were grounded for nearly two years while Boeing worked on a fix to the control system.
When the Indonesian crash occurred, the root cause seemed to be shrouded in uncertainty. But subsequent investigations showed that Boeing knew the cause had to do with tweaks in an automated software routine known as the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS.
In the early stages of those investigations, I struggled to explain what MCAS was supposed to do (keep planes from stalling under extreme conditions) and what it ended up doing (forcing planes into a dive). “Downfall” uses computer graphics and re-enactments to show clearly how MCAS and other points of failure on the 737 MAX figured in the tragedy.
The film also lays out evidence from emails and other documents showing that when the 737 MAX was undergoing certification for flight, Boeing was desperate to avoid providing pilots with extra training, at extra cost — so desperate that the company hid the MCAS software’s capabilities from pilots, airlines and regulators.
“Downfall” gives center stage to critical pilots, former FAA officials, key investigators (including U.S. Rep. Peter Defazio, D-Ore.) and the families of the victims.
Among the journalists who show up on screen are The Air Current’s Jon Ostrower, who’s based in Seattle; Andy Pasztor, who covered the controversy as The Wall Street Journal’s aerospace reporter; and KING-5 reporter Glenn Farley, who makes a cameo in news footage.
Don’t expect to see Boeing executives telling their side of the story. Instead, “Downfall” passes along Boeing’s written responses to questions at the end of the 89-minute documentary. (The crawl also notes that Boeing paid out $2.5 billion to avoid criminal prosecution.)
There’s only so much you can say in 89 minutes: Some of the other controversies that have dogged Boeing over the past couple of years — for example, production problems with the 787 Dreamliner, or glitches that have bedeviled Boeing’s Starliner space taxi — go unmentioned.
But by focusing on the 737 MAX tragedy, “Downfall” lays out a textbook case showing how hubris and greed can have deadly consequences — and tarnish the reputation of a long-respected engineering powerhouse in the process.
It’s a lesson that applies not just to Boeing or just to aerospace, but to the wider tech community as well.
FAA will not allow Boeing to certify 787 Dreamliners for flight until manufacturing process meets its standards
The FAA told Boeing that it will not hand over authority to certify 787 Dreamliners for flight.
Boeing suspended deliveries of the airliners last May after the FAA raised concerns.
The manufacturer has come under scrutiny in recent years for a number of manufacturing flaws.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will retain the power to approve Boeing 787 Dreamliners for flight, instead of returning approval power to the aircraft manufacturer.
Boeing suspended deliveries of the 787 planes last May after the FAA raised concerns over problems with the manufacturing and inspection of the aircraft. The deliveries have not yet resumed.
In a statement on Tuesday, the FAA said that it would continue to approve 787 Dreamliner aircrafts for flight until Boeing's quality control and manufacturing process "consistently produce 787s that meet FAA design standards."
"This will allow the agency to confirm the effectiveness of measures Boeing has undertaken to improve the 787 manufacturing process," the statement said.
In a statement sent to Insider, a spokesperson for Boeing said: "We respect the FAA's role as our regulator and we work transparently through their detailed and rigorous processes. Safety is the top priority for our industry. We will continue to engage with the FAA to ensure we meet their expectations and all applicable requirements."
The statement added: "Last year, we set out on a comprehensive program to ensure every 787 airplane in our production system conforms to our exacting specifications. We resolved many of the non-conformances and were finalizing our work on the remaining items. We also continue to focus on fulfilling requirements and expectations of the FAA and will follow their lead on the timing of resuming deliveries."
Boeing could not confirm to Insider when deliveries of the Dreamliners would return.
The manufacturer has come under fire in recent years over safety issues. In July, around two months after deliveries were halted, the FAA said that some undelivered 787 planes had manufacturing problems near the nose of the airliners.
In November, the FAA also reported an issue related to the contamination of materials that make up the aircraft's wing, fuselage and tail, and confirmed previously reported issues with fuselage gaps, The Seattle Times reported at the time.
The FAA also said that Boeing must have a plan to rework 787s in storage before the manufacturer could regain the authority to inspect the Dreamliners.
Boeing is also under ongoing scrutiny over a separate airliner — the 737 Max aircraft — after two of the planes crashed due to software issues, killing 346 people between 2018 and 2019.
Democratic lawmakers last week criticised the FAA's oversight of Boeing and "reluctance to consider civil enforcement actions" in the wake of the crashes. They also asked the US Department of Transportation to conduct a federal review of the FAA's actions.
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