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| Boeing C.E.O. on Capitol Hill: Live Updates | Boeing C.E.O. on Capitol Hill: Live Updates |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Boeing’s chief executive is being questioned by lawmakers for a second day on Wednesday, appearing before the House of Representatives to discuss two deadly crashes of the 737 Max jet. | Boeing’s chief executive is being questioned by lawmakers for a second day on Wednesday, appearing before the House of Representatives to discuss two deadly crashes of the 737 Max jet. |
| The hearings come a year after the crash of Lion Air Flight 610 off the coast of Indonesia, in which 157 people died. Less than five months after that accident, another 737 Max crashed in Ethiopia, killing 189 people. | The hearings come a year after the crash of Lion Air Flight 610 off the coast of Indonesia, in which 157 people died. Less than five months after that accident, another 737 Max crashed in Ethiopia, killing 189 people. |
| The plane has been grounded since soon after the second accident, and the company faces multiple federal investigations into the design of the plane, including a criminal inquiry led by the Justice Department. | The plane has been grounded since soon after the second accident, and the company faces multiple federal investigations into the design of the plane, including a criminal inquiry led by the Justice Department. |
| On Tuesday, Dennis A. Muilenburg, Boeing’s C.E.O., told senators that the company would have grounded the plane sooner if it had more complete information. He also acknowledged for the first time that he was made aware of a top pilot’s concerns about the plane before the second accident. | On Tuesday, Dennis A. Muilenburg, Boeing’s C.E.O., told senators that the company would have grounded the plane sooner if it had more complete information. He also acknowledged for the first time that he was made aware of a top pilot’s concerns about the plane before the second accident. |
| The admission will likely lead to more questions about why Boeing did not act more decisively before that crash, of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in March. | The admission will likely lead to more questions about why Boeing did not act more decisively before that crash, of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in March. |
| “If we knew everything back then that we know now, we would have made a different decision,” Mr. Muilenburg said. | “If we knew everything back then that we know now, we would have made a different decision,” Mr. Muilenburg said. |
| The crisis has cost Boeing at least $8 billion and roiled the global aviation industry. Mr. Muilenburg said in his opening remarks on Tuesday that the company had “made mistakes” and he vowed to redouble its focus on safety. | The crisis has cost Boeing at least $8 billion and roiled the global aviation industry. Mr. Muilenburg said in his opening remarks on Tuesday that the company had “made mistakes” and he vowed to redouble its focus on safety. |
| Representative Peter DeFazio, Democrat of Oregon, began the hearing before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committees by telling the families: “We’re going to get to the bottom of this. We’re going to fix it, and we’re going to see it never happens again.” | |
| Mr. DeFazio said in his opening statement that Boeing’s actions were “inexplicable, inexcusable and as far as I know unprecedented in the history of aviation.” | |
| Mr. DeFazio later showed several documents that offered new information about how Boeing designed a new automated system, known as MCAS, which was later found to have played a role in both crashes. | |
| The first document showed that Boeing employees considered putting an alert for an MCAS failure in the cockpit, but that the feature never appeared on the plane. John Hamilton, a vice president at the company, said that the light would only indicate when MCAS wasn’t triggering when it was supposed to activate. | |
| The second document showed that in June 2018, months before the Lion Air flight, Boeing employees said that if pilots took 10 seconds to respond once MCAS was activated, the plane would crash. | |
| A third showed that a Boeing employee raised a red flag, in 2015, about whether MCAS was vulnerable to a single point of failure. | |
| Bayihe Demissie, the husband of Elsabet Menwyelet, a flight attendant who died on the doomed Ethiopian flight, said Mr. Muilenburg seemed genuinely apologetic and the conversation was “a little bit productive.” | Bayihe Demissie, the husband of Elsabet Menwyelet, a flight attendant who died on the doomed Ethiopian flight, said Mr. Muilenburg seemed genuinely apologetic and the conversation was “a little bit productive.” |
| “It was not an easy meeting, we were straightforward with him and he tried to be direct with us,” said Mr. Demissie, who is now a single father to a one-year-old child. | “It was not an easy meeting, we were straightforward with him and he tried to be direct with us,” said Mr. Demissie, who is now a single father to a one-year-old child. |
| But he added that the families wanted more transparency from Boeing about what the plane maker knew about the flaws in the Max’s design. “His actions will define him, not his emotions,” Mr. Demissie said. | But he added that the families wanted more transparency from Boeing about what the plane maker knew about the flaws in the Max’s design. “His actions will define him, not his emotions,” Mr. Demissie said. |