Troubled aircraft maker Boeing is expected to come under renewed sharp scrutiny from regulators and its clients after the airline owned up to the two crashes that killed 346 people.
Boeing chief Dennis Muilenburg acknowledged that bad data feeding into an automated flight system on the company’s popular 737 jets played a role in the two crashes.
The company is facing major losses after tens of the 737 jets were grounded and multiple suits in various jurisdictions.
This statement by Boeing chief executive is the first acknowledgement by the troubled carrier that it is to blame for the two crashes that claimed the lives of 346 people.
Prior to the statement by the company, it had maintained a strong face pointing an accusing finger to the pilots of Ethiopian airline that crashed on the 10th of last month killing 157 passengers and the October 29th Lion Air crash that claimed 189 lives.
Kenya suffered the highest casualty in the Ethiopian air crash with 36 lives lost.
Since the Ethiopian Airlines crash, Boeing has lost tens of billions of dollars in market value. The company is also facing hefty regulatory fines and class-action lawsuits.
Already lawyers Irungu Kang’ata, Mohammed Nyaoga and Geoffrey Imende, based in Kenya, and Carlos Velasquez, Laban Opande and Solomon Musyimi from the United States have joined forces to represent Kenyan families against the giant American corporation.
Muilenburg said the company is taking a comprehensive and disciplined approach to get the software update right.
Boeing remains confident in the fundamental safety of the 737 Max, which have been grounded since mid-March added the embattled aircraft maker CEO.
Since the second crash, countries around the world have grounded the plane as investigators seek clues to what went wrong in the two crashes.