Boeing knew about a defect with safety software aboard its 737 MAX in 2017, but it planned to wait three years to fix it, congressional officials announced Friday.
The aerospace giant admitted to a congressional committee in May that within months of the plane's 2017 debut, engineers realized that the sensor warning light only worked when paired with a separate, optional feature. Congressional officials said Boeing also suggested that it decided in November 2017 to defer a software update on the alert until 2020. It only accelerated its timeline after the Lion Air crash in 2018.
Washington Rep. Rick Larsen is one of two key legislators who want answers from Boeing and federal regulators about why the company waited more than a year to disclose that the safety alert working properly.
Larsen, chair of the House Subcommittee on Aviation, and U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon sent letters to Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration seeking details on what they knew when, and when airlines were told.
“An important part of the Committee’s investigation is finding out what Boeing knew, when the company knew it and who it informed,” Larsen said in a statement. “I have questions about the decision to not deem the AOA Disagree alert as safety critical and I am concerned it took Boeing so long to report this defective feature to the FAA and its customers. The information the Committee is requesting will help us better understand management decisions.”
The feature is designed to warn pilots when a sensor provides incorrect information about the pitch of the plane's nose.
The sensors malfunctioned during flights in Indonesia and Ethiopia. Both planes crashed, killing 346 people.