Newly released emails from Boeing employees that were written eight months before two deadly jet crashes detail workers’ anxieties about the safety of the 737 Max fleet.
“Would you put your family on a MAX simulator trained aircraft?” read one message. “No,” another employee responded.
President Trump grounded the 737 Max fleet after two planes crashed, killing 346 people. The FAA released a report in December 2019 claiming it was “clear from the beginning” that the 737 Max would be one of the most accident-prone planes produced in decades.
The disclosures come after Boeing submitted in-house communications to congressional lawmakers.
[Read more: Boeing fires CEO amid 737 Max crisis]
“This airplane is designed by clowns, who in turn are supervised by monkeys,” wrote one employee.
Rep. Peter DeFazio, a Democrat from Oregon, is leading the House investigation into Boeing and released a statement on the emails.
“These newly-released emails are incredibly damning. They paint a deeply disturbing picture of the lengths Boeing was apparently willing to go to in order to evade scrutiny from regulators, flight crews, and the flying public, even as its own employees were sounding alarms internally,” wrote DeFazio.
Boeing share price dropped 1.5% to $331.44 in midday trading on Friday, and its top supplier, Spirit AeroSystems, laid off 2,800 workers after production of the 737 Max was halted.
