Non-fiction · 2011–2026

Boeing 737 MAX

What changed in MCAS, who was told, and when the world found out

Boeing launched the 737 MAX in 2011 with a commercial incentive to avoid simulator training for pilots. In 2016 it expanded MCAS, a flight-control function, to act at low speed on a single angle-of-attack sensor. Boeing's technical pilots did not tell the FAA evaluators setting training requirements, and MCAS was left out of pilot manuals. Lion Air Flight 610 (October 2018) and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 (March 2019) crashed after erroneous sensor data triggered MCAS, killing 346 people. The aircraft was grounded for 20 months. Internal messages, accident reports and a House investigation exposed what had been withheld. Boeing admitted the facts in a 2021 deferred prosecution agreement. The one individual charged was acquitted. After DOJ found a breach in 2024, a plea deal was rejected, and the case ended in a 2025 non-prosecution agreement and dismissal.