737 Max: ‘Unexplainable electrical anomalies’ and other faults, claims former Boeing manager

A former Boeing manager has made a series of claims about shortcomings in the manufacture of the 737 Max aircraft. Ed Pierson, who retired from his post in the 737 factory in August 2018, has written a paper describing what he calls “a chaotic and dangerously unstable production environment” in the months before two fatal accidents that grounded the plane. The Boeing 737 Max returned to service last month, 20 months after the second fatal crash. In October 2018, 189 people died when Lion Air 610 came down shortly after take off from Jakarta. The following March, 157 passengers and crew lost their lives aboard Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 after it crashed in very similar circumstances. Both crashes were blamed on a software system that, when activated by a faulty sensor, forced the nose of the aircraft down despite the pilots’ efforts. The Max was quickly banned from passenger flights worldwide. Boeing insists the latest version of the highly successful 737 series is safe. A spokesperson said: "We continue to work with EASA [the European Union Aviation Safety Agency], other global regulators and our customers to safely return the 737-8 and 737-9 to service worldwide. But Pierson – a retired US Navy captain who also testified as a whistleblower before Congress in December 2019 – portrays a chaotic production environment for the Max that, he says, caused faults such as “unexplainable electrical anomalies”. He says that the plane involved in the Lion Air disaster started displaying faults the flight control system just eight weeks after delivery.<br/>