No one dares to sit on it
Spring is coming, and it is the beginning of the tourist season of the year, many people can't wait to go out for vacation, and the air tickets for popular attractions continue to rise, but it is not easy to go out now, especially when it comes to flying.
After two world-shattering air crashes and the latest "high-altitude slamming incident", the reputation of the Boeing aircraft has been seriously damagedNow some people even refuse to take the plane by name, and they have to get off the plane! The latest survey report states:More problems with Boeing were **!
Ed Pierson, an American living in Seattle, booked a flight from Seattle to New Jersey on Alaska Airlines.
When buying a ticket on the official website, Pearson wasI repeatedly confirmed that the flight I was on was not operated by a Boeing 737 MAXand finally paid for the ticket. He seems to have some kind of obsession:Definitely don't take the Boeing 737 Max, as long as it's not this model, you can sit anywhere.
I arrived at the airport, reconfirmed that it was not a MAX plane, and then went through security, drank coffee, and walked onto the plane. I thought to myself, this plane is quite new. ”
Just as he was about to settle down, at this moment, Pearson casually caught a glimpse of the emergency card in the pocket behind the seat, which read: This is a Max!
Hardly hesitating, Pearson immediately got up and prepared to step off the plane, but by this time all the passengers had boarded the plane and the stewardess was closing the front door. Seeing that Pearson wanted to get off the plane, the flight attendant asked what happened, Pearson did not explain, only said: "I can't go into details, but."I don't want to take a Boeing 737 Max, I'm going to get off the plane! ”
The flight attendant saw his concerns, but she couldn't persuade her, so she couldn't help but say: How much do you know about this model? Pearson didn't listen, insisted on getting off the plane, and asked Alaska Airlines' ground staff to reschedule himRed-eye flight that nightIt took a day at the airport to finally reach the destination, but it was still worth it.
What the flight attendant didn't know was that Pearson did have an in-depth understanding of the Boeing 737 Max. Pearson was a former Navy officer, serving for more than 30 years, serving in leadership positions such as team commander in the military, and then joined Boeing, where he stayed for 10 years, three of which were thereSenior Manager of Production Support at the Renton facility in Washington.
Just before the 737 MAX project was launched, Pearson was involved in the project. Today, Pearson is the executive director of the Aviation Oversight Organization's Foundation for Iation Safety. Suffice it to say, Pearson has a deeper understanding of the Boeing 737 MAX than the average person, but because of this, everything becomes more nuanced:Even Boeing's internal employees dare not take this plane, what are the hidden dangers of safety issues?
The Foundation for Iation Safety was established in 2023 as the oversight body for the aviation industry and the entities that regulate the aviation industry. Since February this year, a page has been added to the official website of this ** conference for passengers, teaching everyone how to check the type of flight they are flying before booking tickets.
Pearson criticized Boeing from the first time the plane was on the production line. In the summer of 2018, Pearson sent several emails to Boeing executives because he noticed "unstable production line problems" and was worriedThe pressure on the aircraft to leave the factory is enormous, causing workers to cut corners, which ended in tragedy. Probably without a reply and without an improvement in the environment, Pearson chose to retire early. "I knew that it was an unhealthy work environment and that I could no longer support the leadership, who had a lot of production quality defects. ”
You must know that Pearson's refusal to board occurred in February 2024, almost a year before the Alaska Airlines plane suddenly exploded at high altitude and the hatch was blown off. In this incident, part of the fuselage of the aircraft was thrown off in the air because of a door plug - missing four bolts, and in the follow-up investigation, Boeing had many reports of loose bolts and wrong drilling.
The chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) warned that "something similar could happen again". On February 28, 2024, the FAA asked Boeing to develop a plan to address quality and safety issues within 90 days.
In fact, as early as April 2017, when the MAX series of models was about to be released, Boeing's internal employees said:The plane was designed by the Joker, and the Joker's overseer is a monkey! Others said: The design of this aircraft is terribleIt's like a "leaky ship." ”
Subsequently, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee conducted an 18-month-long investigation into MAX, and it was at this time that these internal employee exchanges were exposed. In September 2020, a 238-page survey report came out, and the results mentioned:There were serious flaws and mistakes in the design, development and certification of this aircraft.
There are several keywords in the report that stand out:"Production pressure endangers the safety of public flights"., Boeing's "culture of concealment". The MAX was grounded once in March 2019 after the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 MAX 8, which was grounded for 20 months.
The committee had expressed concern that the FAA had "grossly under-supervised" Boeing during the MAX design process and between the crashes, and that "there were gaps in the FAA's regulatory system that allowed this fatally flawed aircraft to be put into service."
After the Lion Air crash, the Federal Aviation Administration did an analysis in December 2018**, saying:Without software fixes, MAX crashes an average of 1 every 2 years!
However, even after the report came out, the plane was not grounded. Peter Defazio, chairman of the House committee, denounced that Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration are betting on public safety.
themIn order to save money, it was decided to let the plane continue to flyand try to fix it before the next plane crashes".
In the latest polls,25% of Americans say they have "not too much confidence" or "no confidence" in Boeing aircraft; And after being told about Boeing's safety concerns, another 57 percent said they were unlikely to fly the MAX. Belén Estacio was also one of those who refused to fly on the MAX aircraft, "My boyfriend didn't want me to fly on this plane, soI changed my plans to make sure I didn't get on this model. ”
She was supposed to go on a business trip, saidAs long as it's a Boeing plane, "I don't want to fly it no matter what model it is." ”She believes that "the Alaska Airlines accident is further confirmation that Boeing still has not completely solved the problem." ”
The same goes for Elayne Grimes, who travels a lot for her job, but after several horrific air crash reports, her attitude towards the Boeing MAX is now one of not sitting. "I watched the air crash documentary and thought [Boeing] wasA company that values profits more than people. ”
Grimes, a former aviation journalist who flew 78 times last year alone, said, "I wouldn't say no outright, but if I had a choice, I would still go with Airbus." ”
After the first air crash, people mainly talked about pilot error or weather reasons, and it could not be the problem of the aircraft. This was followed by an Ethiopian crash, but it turned out to be a problem with the plane. That's when I lost all trust in Max. ”
Some of them said that even if they were to sit, they would still choose the old Boeing 777 and 737, "These planes were designed during the Boeing era when engineers were still talking, and I can trust them more than the MAX.""。”