July 23, 2025 • 30 mins
Five months after Lion Air Flight 610, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashes under nearly identical circumstances, killing 157 more people and forcing the worldwide grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX. Join Alice and Zach as they explore how Ethiopian pilots who knew about MCAS and followed Boeing's procedures still couldn't save their aircraft, revealing the inadequacy of the company's proposed solutions. Plus, learn about Boeing's controversial 2025 settlement that allows the company to avoid criminal prosecution despite what many consider the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history—and why victims' families are fighting back.
Sources:
U.S. Department of Justice Documents:
- "DOJ confirms it has a deal with Boeing to drop prosecution over deadly 737 Max crashes" - NPR, May 23, 2025
- "Boeing Reaches Deal with DOJ to Avoid Criminal Prosecution in 737 MAX Case" - Aviation Source News
- "Families of 737 MAX crash victims to object to deal allowing Boeing to avoid prosecution" - Reuters
Crash Investigation Reports:
- "Aircraft Accident Investigation Report. PT. Lion Airlines Boeing 737 (MAX); PK-LQP" - Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee, October 25, 2019
- "Aircraft Accident Investigation Report B737-MAX 8, ET-AVJ" - Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority, December 23, 2022
- "Indonesia report finds fatal Lion Air jet crash due to Boeing, pilots, maintenance" - NBC News
Academic and Legal Analysis:
- "Boeing's 737 MAX 8 Disasters" - MIT Sloan case study by John Sterman and James Quinn, May 2, 2023
- "Lion Air Flight JT 610 Crash" - Wisner Baum law firm case analysis
- Wikipedia entries on Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302
News Coverage:
- "5 Years On: Looking Back At The Crash Of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302" - Simple Flying, March 10, 2024
Find FINAL BOARDING CALL online:
- Website: finalboardingcallpodcast.com
- Instagram: @FinalBoardingCallPod
- Facebook: Final Boarding Call
Credits:
Final Boarding Call is hosted by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas, researched and written by Alice Stern, produced and edited by Alice Stern and Zach Stemas.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
Well, hello Zach and welcomeback to our first two par.
Feels weird to have not walked away fromthe table and being saying hello again.
I, I love saying hello to you.
I'll say hello to you all day.
Hi.
Don't listen to her.
She ignores me like 95% of the time.
(00:24):
Alright, well this here is a two-parterfolks, so if you are just joining the
podcast, if this is your first episode,please go back and listen to part
one of the Boeing 7 37 max Crashes.
Because we.
Are going to jump right in.
And we are going to pick up at theEthiopian Airlines Flight 3 0 2.
(00:49):
So in our last episode, we discussedhow Boeing felt pressure to come
up with a cutting edge, , solutionthat could compete with Airbus.
So Airbus came out withthis a three 20 Neo plane.
It was getting 15% better fuel efficiencyand essentially it was causing big issues
(01:13):
for Boeing and cutting into their profits.
So they came up with the 7 37 max.
The issue is that they includedthis little thing called MCAS
and MCAS is forcing the planes.
To dive when they shouldn't dive.
And we discussed the, horriblecrash of Lion Air Flight six 10
(01:38):
in our last episode, and herewe are five months later, Zach.
And it's about to happen again.
I am ready.
You're ready?
Good.
It's March 10th, 2019.
Just before dawn in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Passengers begin arriving at BoleInternational Airport for Ethiopian
(02:03):
Airlines Flight 3 0 2 to Nairobi.
Among the 149 passengers are 22United Nations staff members headed
to an environmental conference aidworkers, tourists, and business
travelers from 35 different countries.
(02:25):
Wow, that's crazy.
I just love that environmentalistsare flying on planes like ride a bike.
Practice what you preach across the ocean.
Yeah.
Get a little sailboat too.
Okay.
Alright, woof.
Okay.
This flight is sometimes calledthe UN shuttle because it connects
(02:46):
the African Union headquarters inAddis Ababa to the UN's African
headquarters in Nairobi, so they canjust bop back and forth between HQs.
The aircraft is another Boeing 7 37 maxeight registration, ETA vj, and it is
(03:08):
actually newer than the Lion airplane.
It was delivered to EthiopianAirlines just four months earlier.
Is a, at the controls are Captain Gar Thu.
Wow, I caught that righton the first Triac.
I'm so proud of myself and insteadof keeping it going, you stopped.
(03:29):
You're like, oh my God.
And he's, these pilots areyoung, but very experienced.
So we'll get to that.
So our captain is only 29 years old.
And First Officer Ahmed,no, Mohammed is 25.
So.
Uh, our captain is Ethiopian Airline'syoungest captain, but he is highly
(03:56):
experienced with over 8,000 flight hours.
Wow.
Did this kid start flyingwhen he was like 13 years old?
That's incredible.
But he was picking up extra shifts.
I mean, God, he had bills to pay.
The first officer is newer with 361 hours.
However, he is properlytrained and he is certified.
(04:19):
So there you go.
At 8:38 AM local time flight 3 0 2takes off into the clear morning sky.
Everything appears completelynormal for the first 44 seconds.
Then as the aircraft climbs toabout 400 feet, something strikes
the left angle of attack sensor.
(04:41):
It's possible that this was a bird.
Hmm.
The impact causes damage to thesensor causing it to send erroneous
data to the aircraft system.
And of course, because there is noredundancy and that is the only spot of
data that the sensor's picking up on.
(05:03):
Yeah, that sensor's freaking out.
It's freaking out.
So, um.
For the first minute a flight,the aircraft behaves normally.
And then it's only when the firstofficer retracts the flaps, which is
very normal part of completing takeoff.
And those are the little, they're flapsbasically, that are on the front and
(05:26):
the back of the wing, and they go andthey go back into the wing for, um.
For just regular cruising.
So it's only when they do that, thatMCA becomes active, and the nightmare
beacons within 10 seconds of the flapretraction, the autopilot disengages
(05:47):
and the aircraft starts to descend.
Our pilots, unlike the Indonesiancounterparts, have actually been briefed.
About MCAS following the Lion Air crash.
So technically they're in a better spot.
They know what they're facing.
, Unfortunately, MCAStakes over the airplane.
(06:08):
So even though you know about it, it'sgonna be really hard to, to battle.
I feel like that's a weird thought too.
It's like, oh, I knowabout this MCA system.
I know that it's causing planes to crash.
Yeah, I'm good with flying with one.
That's weird.
Oh god.
But you gotta think they probably were.
Told like, oh, you can, it's fine.
You know, you can just override itusing this thing, which was how they
(06:32):
got FAA clearance in the first place.
Yeah, to not have to train pilots.
Okay, so I'm gonna give you guyssome quotes from the black box here.
Stab trim, cut out calls the firstofficer correctly identifying the problem.
Stab is short for stabilizer.
(06:52):
And trim cutout refers to the switchesthat disable the electrical trim system.
The pilots flip the switchesto disable the electrical trim
system cutting power to MCAS.
For a moment, it seems thatthey might save this flight.
But here is where the Ethiopian crewencounters the same deadly trap that
(07:15):
Boeing's own engineerings, and manypilots did not fully understand.
Once the electrical trim is disabled,the only way to adjust the aircraft's
trim is by manually cranking twolarge wheels in the cockpit like
you're flying a goddamn blimp.
(07:37):
In 1942, and at high speed withthe stabilizer severely out of
trim, these wheels can becomevirtually impossible to turn.
The physics are unforgiving.
The faster the aircraft flies andthe more out of trim it becomes,
the greater the aerodynamic forcesacting against the manual trim wheels.
(08:03):
It's like really crazy.
Hmm.
Desperate to regain control.
Captain gsu makes a fateful decisionabout five minutes into the flight.
He reen enables the electrical trim systemhoping to use the electric trim to get the
aircraft back into proper trim position.
However, in doing so, he MAdives, he reactivates, MCA.
(08:28):
Yeah, he basically woke up thehorrible demon eye robot that's
trying to take down the plane.
I need a simple 20 amp fuse thatI can just grab with my finger
and rip it out for just in cast.
I mean literally like, what the fuck?
The system waits just nineseconds before striking again.
(08:51):
Commanding another nose downinput the aircraft already.
Flying dangerously fastenters an unrecoverable dive.
Despite the pilot's desperate attemptsto pull the nose up manually the
aircraft plunges toward the ground atnearly 700 oh shit, miles per hour.
(09:14):
That's pretty fast.
Oh my God, that's insane.
At 8:44 AM just six minutes after takeoff.
Ethiopian Airlines Flight 30 2 crashes into a farm field
near the town of B Chef two.
The impact creates a crater 28meters wide and 40 meters long.
(09:40):
So that's about 92 feet by 130 feet.
The wreckage driven up to 10meters deep into the soil.
Wow.
Yeah.
All 157 people aboardare instantly killed.
The crash sends shockwavesaround the world.
(10:01):
2, 7 37 max aircraft.
Both nearly new, both operatedby reputable airlines.
With experienced crews both lostin five months, the similarities
are impossible to ignore.
Within hours, airlines and aviationauthorities begin taking action.
(10:24):
China is the first to ground.
Its 7 37 max Fleet.
Followed by the EuropeanUnion and other countries.
The pressure on the United Statesto act becomes pretty overwhelming.
Boeing, CEO, Dennis Moberg triesto maintain confidence calling
President Trump to assure himthat the aircraft is safe.
(10:48):
Well now I just really don't trust it,but, uh, but the evidence is mounting.
On March 13th, 2019, president Trumpannounces that the United States
is grounding the 7 37 max fleet.
Within days, all 387 max aircraftworldwide are grounded, which is the
(11:11):
first global GO gl first global grounding.
Thank you.
I just choked on my tongue.
It is the first global grounding of acommercial aircraft type in decades.
The Ethiopian, actually, Ithink the one before that was.
The DC 10.
Mm-hmm.
Don't quote me on that, folks.
(11:32):
I'm making that up.
That might be complete nonsense.
Bologna.
It's bolos.
Yeah.
Don't come after me.
Uh.
You know, for forgetting that one wrong,the Ethiopian investigation reveals
disturbing details about the crash.
The pilots did follow proceduresprovided by Boeing and the FAA, but those
(11:55):
procedures obviously didn't do the job.
Don't do shit.
No.
They were completely inadequatefor the situation that they
faced the aircraft's flight data.
Shows that the crews performed correctlyinitially, but that the design of the
manual trim system made recovery basicallyimpossible at the speed and configuration
(12:17):
that the aircraft had reached.
Ethiopian Transport MinistryDogma, wheat, Mogas, Mogas, Mogas.
Pul delivers a damning assessment.
The crew performed all of the proceduresreportedly provided by the manufacturer,
(12:37):
but was not able to control the aircraft.
I mean, the implication is clear.
The procedures that Boeing claimedwould save the aircraft, our garbage.
It's like it ain't it.
It's, it is garbage.
As investigators analyzed, bothcrashes, a disturbing pattern emerged.
(12:58):
MCAS hadn't just failed.
It had failed.
In exactly the way that aviationsafety experts had predicted it would.
Yeah, sometimes it sucksto be right, folks.
Oh my gosh.
A system that relied on a single sensorthat pilots didn't know about that
(13:19):
could repeatedly command the aircraftnose down had proven to be surprise.
Surprise, idiotic, fuckingdangerous, wildly dangerous.
The 7 37 max would remaingrounded for 20 months.
Hmm.
So maybe Boeing should have just takenthe time to redesign a whole new aircraft.
(13:43):
Yeah.
Um, while Boeing redesigned MCAS andaviation authorities around the world
demanded proof that the aircraft wasactually safe, but for the 346 families.
The fixes obviously came too late.
The grounding of the 7 37 max in March,2019 triggered one of the most extensive
(14:07):
investigations in aviation history.
As it should have congressionalhearings, criminal investigations
and civil lawsuits all sought tounderstand how Boeing, one of America's
most respected companies had producedan aircraft that killed 346 people.
(14:29):
What emerged was a fucking shit show.
It was a picture of a companythat had fundamentally changed
its culture and priorities.
Internal Boeing documents revealedemployees who were concerned about
safety, but felt pressure to stay quiet.
(14:49):
Don't they always?
Yeah, and I'm about togive you a quote folks.
It feels like we are showing up toa knife fight with Nerf weapons.
That is what one FAA employee saidabout dealing with Boeing in meetings.
So that is the FAA, dealing with Boeing.
(15:10):
That's terrifying that this companyhad that much power and influence over,
over like a government agency whose jobis to determine if airplanes are safe.
It's fucked.
Okay.
This is a reference to thepower imbalance, obviously.
(15:30):
The investigations uncovered a seriesof failures at multiple levels.
Boeing had hidden criticalinformation about MCAS from
both pilots and regulators.
The FAA had delegated much of the7 37 Max's safety certification.
To Boeing itself.
You guys all pass?
(15:52):
No.
They were like, you decide if you passhere, we'll give you the gold stamp.
You tell us if it's good.
And Boeing was like, okay, it's good.
We're fine.
Nothing to see here.
Just pulling down, pull'em down the curtain.
Okay.
Woof.
(16:12):
So they had allowed the companyto self-regulate through a program
called oda, which is the organizationdesignation Authorization.
There's Gary again with thosenaming stuff, he is like on it.
Woo.
Airlines had chosen not to purchaseoptional safety equipment that may
(16:33):
have prevented the crashes, but again,can we really blame the airlines?
When Boeing knew that the airplanes reallyneeded this shit and made it optional.
Yeah, that's like buying a base model carand being like, well, that one actually
only comes with three wheels, so ifsomething happens, that's one you, yeah.
(16:56):
You are like, oh, it only comeswith seat belts in the front.
Sorry.
That was a thing for a long time.
Okay.
And I would still drive those carsbecause they don't have this stupid
technology that causes crashes.
I wouldn't put our daughter in thebackseat of that car, just like a Boeing
employee wouldn't put his family in.
The 7 37.
(17:16):
Okay.
Boeing's financial losses.
Which folks may I remind you of Theirony that the whole reason we're
in this situation in the first placeis because Boeing was trying to
avoid substantial financial losses.
So let's see how well itplayed out for them, shall we?
This is a new fun segmentof the podcast called Ya.
(17:38):
Done Did.
Fuck Up Wows.
Okay.
In case you can tell I'mnot the biggest rowing fan.
Boeing's financial losses were staggering.
Direct costs exceeded 21 billionwith a V dollars, including
(17:58):
compensation to airlines, productiondelays, and legal settlements.
The company lost orders for over1000 aircraft Boeing stock price.
Which had been at a recordhigh before these crashes
plummeted by more than 50% y.
(18:20):
More importantly, Boeing's reputationbuilt over decades as one of
America's premier manufacturers.
Was in ruins.
The company that had put the firstcommercial jetliner in the sky and
had been synonymous with engineeringexcellence was now associated with
(18:41):
corporate greed and regulatory capture.
In case you were guessing why I wasn't abig fan, that sentence uh, summed her up.
In January of 2021, Boeing reached a $2.5
billion settlement withthe Department of Justice.
(19:01):
Pleading guilty to conspiracyto defraud the FAA.
Which is, uh, in my opinion, a chargethat someone should go to jail for.
Maybe many someones, but I don't know.
That's just me.
I'm not a lawyer.
The company admitted that employees hadmisled regulators about MCAS and agreed
(19:23):
to pay criminal fines and compensationto airlines and victims' families.
I don't know if you can see this, but.
I'm playing the world'stiniest violin for you guys.
This is a podcast.
They can't see you.
Shit.
I forgot that.
Okay.
(19:43):
Even the settlementproved very controversial.
Many families of crash victims feltthe penalty was insufficient for
what they considered the deadliestcorporate crime in US history.
Boeing avoided criminal prosecutionof individual executives, and the
company could continue pursuinglucrative government contracts.
(20:09):
I'm a big fan of just like lock up someof these CEOs, make them learn lessons.
I mean, yes, yes.
There needs to be repercussions for peoplecutting corners for corporate greed,
especially when it proves to be fatal.
Like times a couple hundred.
Yes.
Yeah.
(20:29):
I mean, you think about people thathave like defrauded other people
into investing in companies that werecreating products that weren't real.
Do you know what I'm referring to?
Wolf of Wall Street?
Uh, yeah.
Okay, so there's a good one.
Yes.
He went to.
Prison.
Uh, but I was talking about Elizabeth,what's her face and the blood testing.
(20:55):
Yeah.
I still have no idea what you're saying.
Elizabeth Holmes, I don't know whyI could not remember her last name.
But anyway, she created a company,fairness, and they promised to be
able to run a bunch of blood testson like one single drop of blood.
Hmm.
Or very few drops of blood, andit would revolutionize blood
testing, except it didn't exist.
(21:17):
Hmm.
It wasn't real.
And she stole a ton ofmoney from investors.
Then they found out it wasn't real.
And guess what?
She went to jail and shedidn't even kill anybody.
Sounds like she didn't have a very goodplan of how to get out of this, but.
I am not talking about her.
She deserved to go to jail anyway,but what I'm saying was her crime
(21:39):
was taking a bunch of money frompeople who had a shit ton of money.
This is people who have a shit ton ofmoney that because they want more money
killed a bunch of people that had noidea that they were on death traps.
And that is guys my wife is real easy tomess with because she is so passionate.
(22:01):
So I say one dumb thing and then shewent on a whole tangent, and I apologize.
I will not apologize for my passion.
Okay, well, Zach, guess what?
You can fly on a Boeing 7 37 max.
We have, we have, I still hate them,because it returned to service in
(22:22):
November of 2020 after Boeing, quoteunquote redesigned MCAS to use data
from both angle of attack sensors, whichit should have just done in the first.
Place, I'm not gonna lie at this pointwith all these errors, I would be like,
it better have 10 angle of attack sensors.
Yeah, yeah.
(22:42):
Well it also limited its authority, sonow I guess it can't like robot take over
the plane and then it made it activateonly once per sensor disagreement.
So good news guys.
That is smart.
The plane will only plummet one time.
Yeah.
I mean, that's still a terriblething and scary as shit.
(23:05):
Yeah.
But from both stories that we told,the plane was saved more than once.
Mm-hmm.
It just kept doing it.
Correct.
I mean, this would'vesaved those people's lives.
Yeah.
Both counts.
These been actually implemented.
Yeah.
Like they should have been.
Pilots also now know that MCAS exists.
(23:25):
And they receive extensive trainingabout the system, including
mandatory simulator sessions.
Probably got it for free becauseBoeing was trying to be like,
no, please still fly our planes.
Oh yes, I am sure.
Yeah.
Boeing was probably begging peopleto take these 7 3, 7 maxes, but just
when it seemed that Boeing had learnedits lesson, mm, tell me what they do.
(23:50):
New problems emerged.
In January of 2024, Alaska Airlines,7 37 max nine, experienced a door
plug blowout at 16,000 feet forcing anemergency landing and raising even more
questions about Boeing's quality control.
And safety culture.
(24:11):
So the door plug is the panel that coverswhat would be an emergency exit door,
but is instead sealed and made to looklike a regular part of the fuselage.
And that thing just likefell, popped right out.
So that's problematic andwe'll cover that entire case.
(24:31):
Probably in a couple years 'cause Iwant to get as much information on it as
possible, you know, investigation stuff.
So let's talk about the most recentdevelopment in the ongoing saga in May
of 2025, which right now we're in July,Boeing reached a new agreement with the
Department of Justice that will allowthe company to avoid criminal prosecution
(24:56):
for the Boeing 7 37 max crashes.
Despite objections from manyfamilies, of the victims and me,
may it be on the record that I alsogreatly object under this deal.
Boeing will pay an additional $444.5
million to the families of crashvictims and accept enhanced
(25:21):
oversight for three years.
That's all it takes.
I guess that's it.
That's, that's gonna do it.
This agreement has obviously sparkedoutrage from families who wanted to
see the company face a criminal trialfor the crime that they committed.
(25:41):
'cause it turns out it'sillegal to kill people.
Yeah.
What is this the fucking purge?
With this filing, the DOJ walks awayfrom any pretense to seek justice for
the victims of the 7 37 max crashes.
And that was actually a quote fromJavier DeLuise, whose sister died
(26:02):
in the e Ethiopian Airlines crash.
And then this is theend of the quote here.
The message sent by this actionto companies around the country
is, don't worry about making yourproducts safe for your customers.
The family's plan to challenge theagreement in court, arguing that it's
too lenient for what they considerone of the deadliest corporate crimes
(26:24):
in American history as paul Cael,a lawyer representing the families.
Put it.
This kind of non-prosecution deal isunprecedented and obviously wrong for the
deadliest corporate crime in US history.
So, Zach, where does this leave us?
Other than hangry?
The 7 37 max is flying again.
(26:47):
And all they were is on probation.
I guess they still are,but you goy don't do dad.
Yeah.
With additional safety systems andtraining requirements, Boeing has paid
billions and fines and settlements.
Nobody has gone to jail.
New regulations have been implementedto prevent similar disasters.
And once again, nobody has gone to jail.
(27:09):
But did anybody go to jail?
Nobody.
Nobody went to jail.
Fundamental questions remainthough, can Boeing be trusted to
prioritize safety over profits?
Okay.
Is the current regulatory system adequateto prevent another disaster and perhaps
(27:30):
most importantly, have the lessons ofthese 346 deaths truly been learned?
The families of those who died continuetheir fight for accountability.
The aviation industry continues to grapplewith the balance between innovation
and safety, and Boeing continues tobuild aircraft that carry millions of
(27:55):
Passeng passengers around the world.
Only time will tell whether thechanges implemented since 2019
are sufficient to prevent anothertragedy like Lion Air Flight six 10
and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 3 0 2.
But one thing is certain, the namesand the stories of those 346 victims.
(28:16):
Must never be forgotten, and their deathsmust continue to drive improvements
in aviation safety because in the end,aviation safety is not about systems
or software or corporate profits.
It's about the passengers who trusttheir lives to these machines and to
(28:37):
the pilots and the sacred responsibilitythat comes with that trust.
Boeing.
The story of the Boeing 7 37 max crashesserves as a stark reminder that aviation,
there are no small mistakes, only smallmistakes that become big tragedies.
(28:57):
All right, Zach, that is our episode.
Episodes.
Episode is, episode is 'cause we do too.
Ooh, how are you feeling?
Well, I'm kind of a bighater of big business.
You know, I wish that it was moreclear cut for people to understand,
(29:19):
especially the businesses themselves.
Like Boeing doesn't exist withoutthe airlines buying these planes.
Those airlines don't existwithout the passengers.
Who are the ones getting shit on?
Like all of the money that Boeing paidout was because they had been paid
by these passengers at some point.
So really all the money thatthey've ever made, it was, the
(29:42):
whole lawsuit was paid off by thepeople that they killed, basically.
And that bothers me.
Mm.
That's messed up.
All right.
If you found today's episodeinformative or interesting, or.
Sick.
Go ahead and rate, review and subscribewherever you get your podcasts.
You can also follow us on Instagramat Final Boarding Call pod,
(30:05):
and we are on Facebook as well.
And finally, join us nexttime when we'll be exploring
another aviation disaster story.
Until then, remember to stow yourtray tables, fasten your seat belts,
and prepare for the unexpected.
Because not every tripreaches its final destination.
(30:29):
Good bye bye.
Well, hello Zach and welcomeback to our first two par.
Feels weird to have not walked away fromthe table and being saying hello again.
I, I love saying hello to you.
I'll say hello to you all day.
Hi.
Don't listen to her.
She ignores me like 95% of the time.
(00:24):
Alright, well this here is a two-parterfolks, so if you are just joining the
podcast, if this is your first episode,please go back and listen to part
one of the Boeing 7 37 max Crashes.
Because we.
Are going to jump right in.
And we are going to pick up at theEthiopian Airlines Flight 3 0 2.
(00:49):
So in our last episode, we discussedhow Boeing felt pressure to come
up with a cutting edge, , solutionthat could compete with Airbus.
So Airbus came out withthis a three 20 Neo plane.
It was getting 15% better fuel efficiencyand essentially it was causing big issues
(01:13):
for Boeing and cutting into their profits.
So they came up with the 7 37 max.
The issue is that they includedthis little thing called MCAS
and MCAS is forcing the planes.
To dive when they shouldn't dive.
And we discussed the, horriblecrash of Lion Air Flight six 10
(01:38):
in our last episode, and herewe are five months later, Zach.
And it's about to happen again.
I am ready.
You're ready?
Good.
It's March 10th, 2019.
Just before dawn in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Passengers begin arriving at BoleInternational Airport for Ethiopian
(02:03):
Airlines Flight 3 0 2 to Nairobi.
Among the 149 passengers are 22United Nations staff members headed
to an environmental conference aidworkers, tourists, and business
travelers from 35 different countries.
(02:25):
Wow, that's crazy.
I just love that environmentalistsare flying on planes like ride a bike.
Practice what you preach across the ocean.
Yeah.
Get a little sailboat too.
Okay.
Alright, woof.
Okay.
This flight is sometimes calledthe UN shuttle because it connects
(02:46):
the African Union headquarters inAddis Ababa to the UN's African
headquarters in Nairobi, so they canjust bop back and forth between HQs.
The aircraft is another Boeing 7 37 maxeight registration, ETA vj, and it is
(03:08):
actually newer than the Lion airplane.
It was delivered to EthiopianAirlines just four months earlier.
Is a, at the controls are Captain Gar Thu.
Wow, I caught that righton the first Triac.
I'm so proud of myself and insteadof keeping it going, you stopped.
(03:29):
You're like, oh my God.
And he's, these pilots areyoung, but very experienced.
So we'll get to that.
So our captain is only 29 years old.
And First Officer Ahmed,no, Mohammed is 25.
So.
Uh, our captain is Ethiopian Airline'syoungest captain, but he is highly
(03:56):
experienced with over 8,000 flight hours.
Wow.
Did this kid start flyingwhen he was like 13 years old?
That's incredible.
But he was picking up extra shifts.
I mean, God, he had bills to pay.
The first officer is newer with 361 hours.
However, he is properlytrained and he is certified.
(04:19):
So there you go.
At 8:38 AM local time flight 3 0 2takes off into the clear morning sky.
Everything appears completelynormal for the first 44 seconds.
Then as the aircraft climbs toabout 400 feet, something strikes
the left angle of attack sensor.
(04:41):
It's possible that this was a bird.
Hmm.
The impact causes damage to thesensor causing it to send erroneous
data to the aircraft system.
And of course, because there is noredundancy and that is the only spot of
data that the sensor's picking up on.
(05:03):
Yeah, that sensor's freaking out.
It's freaking out.
So, um.
For the first minute a flight,the aircraft behaves normally.
And then it's only when the firstofficer retracts the flaps, which is
very normal part of completing takeoff.
And those are the little, they're flapsbasically, that are on the front and
(05:26):
the back of the wing, and they go andthey go back into the wing for, um.
For just regular cruising.
So it's only when they do that, thatMCA becomes active, and the nightmare
beacons within 10 seconds of the flapretraction, the autopilot disengages
(05:47):
and the aircraft starts to descend.
Our pilots, unlike the Indonesiancounterparts, have actually been briefed.
About MCAS following the Lion Air crash.
So technically they're in a better spot.
They know what they're facing.
, Unfortunately, MCAStakes over the airplane.
(06:08):
So even though you know about it, it'sgonna be really hard to, to battle.
I feel like that's a weird thought too.
It's like, oh, I knowabout this MCA system.
I know that it's causing planes to crash.
Yeah, I'm good with flying with one.
That's weird.
Oh god.
But you gotta think they probably were.
Told like, oh, you can, it's fine.
You know, you can just override itusing this thing, which was how they
(06:32):
got FAA clearance in the first place.
Yeah, to not have to train pilots.
Okay, so I'm gonna give you guyssome quotes from the black box here.
Stab trim, cut out calls the firstofficer correctly identifying the problem.
Stab is short for stabilizer.
(06:52):
And trim cutout refers to the switchesthat disable the electrical trim system.
The pilots flip the switchesto disable the electrical trim
system cutting power to MCAS.
For a moment, it seems thatthey might save this flight.
But here is where the Ethiopian crewencounters the same deadly trap that
(07:15):
Boeing's own engineerings, and manypilots did not fully understand.
Once the electrical trim is disabled,the only way to adjust the aircraft's
trim is by manually cranking twolarge wheels in the cockpit like
you're flying a goddamn blimp.
(07:37):
In 1942, and at high speed withthe stabilizer severely out of
trim, these wheels can becomevirtually impossible to turn.
The physics are unforgiving.
The faster the aircraft flies andthe more out of trim it becomes,
the greater the aerodynamic forcesacting against the manual trim wheels.
(08:03):
It's like really crazy.
Hmm.
Desperate to regain control.
Captain gsu makes a fateful decisionabout five minutes into the flight.
He reen enables the electrical trim systemhoping to use the electric trim to get the
aircraft back into proper trim position.
However, in doing so, he MAdives, he reactivates, MCA.
(08:28):
Yeah, he basically woke up thehorrible demon eye robot that's
trying to take down the plane.
I need a simple 20 amp fuse thatI can just grab with my finger
and rip it out for just in cast.
I mean literally like, what the fuck?
The system waits just nineseconds before striking again.
(08:51):
Commanding another nose downinput the aircraft already.
Flying dangerously fastenters an unrecoverable dive.
Despite the pilot's desperate attemptsto pull the nose up manually the
aircraft plunges toward the ground atnearly 700 oh shit, miles per hour.
(09:14):
That's pretty fast.
Oh my God, that's insane.
At 8:44 AM just six minutes after takeoff.
Ethiopian Airlines Flight 30 2 crashes into a farm field
near the town of B Chef two.
The impact creates a crater 28meters wide and 40 meters long.
(09:40):
So that's about 92 feet by 130 feet.
The wreckage driven up to 10meters deep into the soil.
Wow.
Yeah.
All 157 people aboardare instantly killed.
The crash sends shockwavesaround the world.
(10:01):
2, 7 37 max aircraft.
Both nearly new, both operatedby reputable airlines.
With experienced crews both lostin five months, the similarities
are impossible to ignore.
Within hours, airlines and aviationauthorities begin taking action.
(10:24):
China is the first to ground.
Its 7 37 max Fleet.
Followed by the EuropeanUnion and other countries.
The pressure on the United Statesto act becomes pretty overwhelming.
Boeing, CEO, Dennis Moberg triesto maintain confidence calling
President Trump to assure himthat the aircraft is safe.
(10:48):
Well now I just really don't trust it,but, uh, but the evidence is mounting.
On March 13th, 2019, president Trumpannounces that the United States
is grounding the 7 37 max fleet.
Within days, all 387 max aircraftworldwide are grounded, which is the
(11:11):
first global GO gl first global grounding.
Thank you.
I just choked on my tongue.
It is the first global grounding of acommercial aircraft type in decades.
The Ethiopian, actually, Ithink the one before that was.
The DC 10.
Mm-hmm.
Don't quote me on that, folks.
(11:32):
I'm making that up.
That might be complete nonsense.
Bologna.
It's bolos.
Yeah.
Don't come after me.
Uh.
You know, for forgetting that one wrong,the Ethiopian investigation reveals
disturbing details about the crash.
The pilots did follow proceduresprovided by Boeing and the FAA, but those
(11:55):
procedures obviously didn't do the job.
Don't do shit.
No.
They were completely inadequatefor the situation that they
faced the aircraft's flight data.
Shows that the crews performed correctlyinitially, but that the design of the
manual trim system made recovery basicallyimpossible at the speed and configuration
(12:17):
that the aircraft had reached.
Ethiopian Transport MinistryDogma, wheat, Mogas, Mogas, Mogas.
Pul delivers a damning assessment.
The crew performed all of the proceduresreportedly provided by the manufacturer,
(12:37):
but was not able to control the aircraft.
I mean, the implication is clear.
The procedures that Boeing claimedwould save the aircraft, our garbage.
It's like it ain't it.
It's, it is garbage.
As investigators analyzed, bothcrashes, a disturbing pattern emerged.
(12:58):
MCAS hadn't just failed.
It had failed.
In exactly the way that aviationsafety experts had predicted it would.
Yeah, sometimes it sucksto be right, folks.
Oh my gosh.
A system that relied on a single sensorthat pilots didn't know about that
(13:19):
could repeatedly command the aircraftnose down had proven to be surprise.
Surprise, idiotic, fuckingdangerous, wildly dangerous.
The 7 37 max would remaingrounded for 20 months.
Hmm.
So maybe Boeing should have just takenthe time to redesign a whole new aircraft.
(13:43):
Yeah.
Um, while Boeing redesigned MCAS andaviation authorities around the world
demanded proof that the aircraft wasactually safe, but for the 346 families.
The fixes obviously came too late.
The grounding of the 7 37 max in March,2019 triggered one of the most extensive
(14:07):
investigations in aviation history.
As it should have congressionalhearings, criminal investigations
and civil lawsuits all sought tounderstand how Boeing, one of America's
most respected companies had producedan aircraft that killed 346 people.
(14:29):
What emerged was a fucking shit show.
It was a picture of a companythat had fundamentally changed
its culture and priorities.
Internal Boeing documents revealedemployees who were concerned about
safety, but felt pressure to stay quiet.
(14:49):
Don't they always?
Yeah, and I'm about togive you a quote folks.
It feels like we are showing up toa knife fight with Nerf weapons.
That is what one FAA employee saidabout dealing with Boeing in meetings.
So that is the FAA, dealing with Boeing.
(15:10):
That's terrifying that this companyhad that much power and influence over,
over like a government agency whose jobis to determine if airplanes are safe.
It's fucked.
Okay.
This is a reference to thepower imbalance, obviously.
(15:30):
The investigations uncovered a seriesof failures at multiple levels.
Boeing had hidden criticalinformation about MCAS from
both pilots and regulators.
The FAA had delegated much of the7 37 Max's safety certification.
To Boeing itself.
You guys all pass?
(15:52):
No.
They were like, you decide if you passhere, we'll give you the gold stamp.
You tell us if it's good.
And Boeing was like, okay, it's good.
We're fine.
Nothing to see here.
Just pulling down, pull'em down the curtain.
Okay.
Woof.
(16:12):
So they had allowed the companyto self-regulate through a program
called oda, which is the organizationdesignation Authorization.
There's Gary again with thosenaming stuff, he is like on it.
Woo.
Airlines had chosen not to purchaseoptional safety equipment that may
(16:33):
have prevented the crashes, but again,can we really blame the airlines?
When Boeing knew that the airplanes reallyneeded this shit and made it optional.
Yeah, that's like buying a base model carand being like, well, that one actually
only comes with three wheels, so ifsomething happens, that's one you, yeah.
(16:56):
You are like, oh, it only comeswith seat belts in the front.
Sorry.
That was a thing for a long time.
Okay.
And I would still drive those carsbecause they don't have this stupid
technology that causes crashes.
I wouldn't put our daughter in thebackseat of that car, just like a Boeing
employee wouldn't put his family in.
The 7 37.
(17:16):
Okay.
Boeing's financial losses.
Which folks may I remind you of Theirony that the whole reason we're
in this situation in the first placeis because Boeing was trying to
avoid substantial financial losses.
So let's see how well itplayed out for them, shall we?
This is a new fun segmentof the podcast called Ya.
(17:38):
Done Did.
Fuck Up Wows.
Okay.
In case you can tell I'mnot the biggest rowing fan.
Boeing's financial losses were staggering.
Direct costs exceeded 21 billionwith a V dollars, including
(17:58):
compensation to airlines, productiondelays, and legal settlements.
The company lost orders for over1000 aircraft Boeing stock price.
Which had been at a recordhigh before these crashes
plummeted by more than 50% y.
(18:20):
More importantly, Boeing's reputationbuilt over decades as one of
America's premier manufacturers.
Was in ruins.
The company that had put the firstcommercial jetliner in the sky and
had been synonymous with engineeringexcellence was now associated with
(18:41):
corporate greed and regulatory capture.
In case you were guessing why I wasn't abig fan, that sentence uh, summed her up.
In January of 2021, Boeing reached a $2.5
billion settlement withthe Department of Justice.
(19:01):
Pleading guilty to conspiracyto defraud the FAA.
Which is, uh, in my opinion, a chargethat someone should go to jail for.
Maybe many someones, but I don't know.
That's just me.
I'm not a lawyer.
The company admitted that employees hadmisled regulators about MCAS and agreed
(19:23):
to pay criminal fines and compensationto airlines and victims' families.
I don't know if you can see this, but.
I'm playing the world'stiniest violin for you guys.
This is a podcast.
They can't see you.
Shit.
I forgot that.
Okay.
(19:43):
Even the settlementproved very controversial.
Many families of crash victims feltthe penalty was insufficient for
what they considered the deadliestcorporate crime in US history.
Boeing avoided criminal prosecutionof individual executives, and the
company could continue pursuinglucrative government contracts.
(20:09):
I'm a big fan of just like lock up someof these CEOs, make them learn lessons.
I mean, yes, yes.
There needs to be repercussions for peoplecutting corners for corporate greed,
especially when it proves to be fatal.
Like times a couple hundred.
Yes.
Yeah.
(20:29):
I mean, you think about people thathave like defrauded other people
into investing in companies that werecreating products that weren't real.
Do you know what I'm referring to?
Wolf of Wall Street?
Uh, yeah.
Okay, so there's a good one.
Yes.
He went to.
Prison.
Uh, but I was talking about Elizabeth,what's her face and the blood testing.
(20:55):
Yeah.
I still have no idea what you're saying.
Elizabeth Holmes, I don't know whyI could not remember her last name.
But anyway, she created a company,fairness, and they promised to be
able to run a bunch of blood testson like one single drop of blood.
Hmm.
Or very few drops of blood, andit would revolutionize blood
testing, except it didn't exist.
(21:17):
Hmm.
It wasn't real.
And she stole a ton ofmoney from investors.
Then they found out it wasn't real.
And guess what?
She went to jail and shedidn't even kill anybody.
Sounds like she didn't have a very goodplan of how to get out of this, but.
I am not talking about her.
She deserved to go to jail anyway,but what I'm saying was her crime
(21:39):
was taking a bunch of money frompeople who had a shit ton of money.
This is people who have a shit ton ofmoney that because they want more money
killed a bunch of people that had noidea that they were on death traps.
And that is guys my wife is real easy tomess with because she is so passionate.
(22:01):
So I say one dumb thing and then shewent on a whole tangent, and I apologize.
I will not apologize for my passion.
Okay, well, Zach, guess what?
You can fly on a Boeing 7 37 max.
We have, we have, I still hate them,because it returned to service in
(22:22):
November of 2020 after Boeing, quoteunquote redesigned MCAS to use data
from both angle of attack sensors, whichit should have just done in the first.
Place, I'm not gonna lie at this pointwith all these errors, I would be like,
it better have 10 angle of attack sensors.
Yeah, yeah.
(22:42):
Well it also limited its authority, sonow I guess it can't like robot take over
the plane and then it made it activateonly once per sensor disagreement.
So good news guys.
That is smart.
The plane will only plummet one time.
Yeah.
I mean, that's still a terriblething and scary as shit.
(23:05):
Yeah.
But from both stories that we told,the plane was saved more than once.
Mm-hmm.
It just kept doing it.
Correct.
I mean, this would'vesaved those people's lives.
Yeah.
Both counts.
These been actually implemented.
Yeah.
Like they should have been.
Pilots also now know that MCAS exists.
(23:25):
And they receive extensive trainingabout the system, including
mandatory simulator sessions.
Probably got it for free becauseBoeing was trying to be like,
no, please still fly our planes.
Oh yes, I am sure.
Yeah.
Boeing was probably begging peopleto take these 7 3, 7 maxes, but just
when it seemed that Boeing had learnedits lesson, mm, tell me what they do.
(23:50):
New problems emerged.
In January of 2024, Alaska Airlines,7 37 max nine, experienced a door
plug blowout at 16,000 feet forcing anemergency landing and raising even more
questions about Boeing's quality control.
And safety culture.
(24:11):
So the door plug is the panel that coverswhat would be an emergency exit door,
but is instead sealed and made to looklike a regular part of the fuselage.
And that thing just likefell, popped right out.
So that's problematic andwe'll cover that entire case.
(24:31):
Probably in a couple years 'cause Iwant to get as much information on it as
possible, you know, investigation stuff.
So let's talk about the most recentdevelopment in the ongoing saga in May
of 2025, which right now we're in July,Boeing reached a new agreement with the
Department of Justice that will allowthe company to avoid criminal prosecution
(24:56):
for the Boeing 7 37 max crashes.
Despite objections from manyfamilies, of the victims and me,
may it be on the record that I alsogreatly object under this deal.
Boeing will pay an additional $444.5
million to the families of crashvictims and accept enhanced
(25:21):
oversight for three years.
That's all it takes.
I guess that's it.
That's, that's gonna do it.
This agreement has obviously sparkedoutrage from families who wanted to
see the company face a criminal trialfor the crime that they committed.
(25:41):
'cause it turns out it'sillegal to kill people.
Yeah.
What is this the fucking purge?
With this filing, the DOJ walks awayfrom any pretense to seek justice for
the victims of the 7 37 max crashes.
And that was actually a quote fromJavier DeLuise, whose sister died
(26:02):
in the e Ethiopian Airlines crash.
And then this is theend of the quote here.
The message sent by this actionto companies around the country
is, don't worry about making yourproducts safe for your customers.
The family's plan to challenge theagreement in court, arguing that it's
too lenient for what they considerone of the deadliest corporate crimes
(26:24):
in American history as paul Cael,a lawyer representing the families.
Put it.
This kind of non-prosecution deal isunprecedented and obviously wrong for the
deadliest corporate crime in US history.
So, Zach, where does this leave us?
Other than hangry?
The 7 37 max is flying again.
(26:47):
And all they were is on probation.
I guess they still are,but you goy don't do dad.
Yeah.
With additional safety systems andtraining requirements, Boeing has paid
billions and fines and settlements.
Nobody has gone to jail.
New regulations have been implementedto prevent similar disasters.
And once again, nobody has gone to jail.
(27:09):
But did anybody go to jail?
Nobody.
Nobody went to jail.
Fundamental questions remainthough, can Boeing be trusted to
prioritize safety over profits?
Okay.
Is the current regulatory system adequateto prevent another disaster and perhaps
(27:30):
most importantly, have the lessons ofthese 346 deaths truly been learned?
The families of those who died continuetheir fight for accountability.
The aviation industry continues to grapplewith the balance between innovation
and safety, and Boeing continues tobuild aircraft that carry millions of
(27:55):
Passeng passengers around the world.
Only time will tell whether thechanges implemented since 2019
are sufficient to prevent anothertragedy like Lion Air Flight six 10
and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 3 0 2.
But one thing is certain, the namesand the stories of those 346 victims.
(28:16):
Must never be forgotten, and their deathsmust continue to drive improvements
in aviation safety because in the end,aviation safety is not about systems
or software or corporate profits.
It's about the passengers who trusttheir lives to these machines and to
(28:37):
the pilots and the sacred responsibilitythat comes with that trust.
Boeing.
The story of the Boeing 7 37 max crashesserves as a stark reminder that aviation,
there are no small mistakes, only smallmistakes that become big tragedies.
(28:57):
All right, Zach, that is our episode.
Episodes.
Episode is, episode is 'cause we do too.
Ooh, how are you feeling?
Well, I'm kind of a bighater of big business.
You know, I wish that it was moreclear cut for people to understand,
(29:19):
especially the businesses themselves.
Like Boeing doesn't exist withoutthe airlines buying these planes.
Those airlines don't existwithout the passengers.
Who are the ones getting shit on?
Like all of the money that Boeing paidout was because they had been paid
by these passengers at some point.
So really all the money thatthey've ever made, it was, the
(29:42):
whole lawsuit was paid off by thepeople that they killed, basically.
And that bothers me.
Mm.
That's messed up.
All right.
If you found today's episodeinformative or interesting, or.
Sick.
Go ahead and rate, review and subscribewherever you get your podcasts.
You can also follow us on Instagramat Final Boarding Call pod,
(30:05):
and we are on Facebook as well.
And finally, join us nexttime when we'll be exploring
another aviation disaster story.
Until then, remember to stow yourtray tables, fasten your seat belts,
and prepare for the unexpected.
Because not every tripreaches its final destination.
(30:29):
Good bye bye.
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