Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg was confronted Tuesday by loved ones of those who perished during two fatal crashes of its 737 Max jets.
More than a dozen family members sat behind Muilenburg as he testified before the Senate Commerce Committee, marking the first time he fielded questions from lawmakers about the embattled 737 Max since the crashes involving Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines flights.
The family members at one point during the hearing held up photos of their loved ones who died in the incidents, which occurred in October 2018 and March 2019. As Muilenburg was leaving at the conclusion of his testimony, Nadia Milleron, whose daughter Samya Stumo died in the Ethiopian Airlines crash in March, told the Boeing CEO to “turn around and look at people when you say you’re sorry.”
Muilenburg did so, looking Milleron in the eye before telling her, “I’m sorry.”
The Boeing chief, who has faced calls to resign in the wake of the crashes, was grilled by senators about the certification of the 737 Max and when Boeing became aware of issues with the plane’s anti-stall system, known as the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, which was implicated in the crashes.
During the hearing, Muilenburg struck an apologetic tone and offered condolences to the family members. His testimony took place on the one-year anniversary of the Lion Air crash.
“On behalf of myself and the Boeing Company, we are sorry. Deeply and truly sorry,” Muilenburg said in his opening statement. “As a husband and father myself, I’m heartbroken by your losses. I think about you and your loved ones every day, and I know our entire Boeing team does as well.”
Muilenburg acknowledged during his testimony that Boeing made “mistakes and got some things wrong” but was working to ensure no future crashes happen.
Senators, however, condemned Muilenburg for not including the MCAS in its pilot training manual and questioned when he learned of messages from Mark Forkner, the 737 chief technical pilot, who wrote in 2016 the MCAS was “running rampant” during simulator tests.
Muilenburg told lawmakers he was told of Forkner’s messages, made public this month, before the second crash in March.
“Those pilots never had a chance. These loved ones never had a chance,” Democratic Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal told Muilenburg. “They were in flying coffins as a result of Boeing deciding it was going to conceal MCAS from the pilots.”
The 737 Max has been grounded since mid-March, and Boeing began working on a software patch for the anti-stall system. The fix was completed in May, but the jet has yet to be recertified by the Federal Aviation Administration, causing U.S. airlines to cancel thousands of flights and alter their flight schedules into January.
Muilenburg will appear before the House Transportation Committee on Wednesday for a second hearing on the 737 Max.
