Boeing issues (was: 737Max Back In the News)

[NationalTitles18]

He was an QC manager and is just bringing something like this to light?

Fair criticism and I don't know the legal details, including possible NDA's or other reasons like fearing suicide by another's hands that kept him from coming forward previously.

 

[NationalTitles18]

https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/08/business/boeing-doj-criminal-charges/index.html

Boeing agrees to plead guilty to defrauding the FAA but escapes punishment sought by victims’ families

Boeing has agreed to plead guilty to one charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States for its role in two fatal 737 Max crashes, the Justice Department said in a court filing Sunday evening.

It represents yet another black eye for the company after a series of embarrassing safety blunders, but the agreement avoids what could have been more serious consequences.

It will pay up to $487 million in fines — a fraction of the $24.8 billion that families of crash victims wanted the aircraft maker to pay. The families of victims of two fatal crashes of the 737 Max oppose the deal, the department said.

“This resolution protects the American public,” said the DOJ’s statement. “Boeing will be required to make historic investments to strengthen and integrate its compliance and safety programs. This criminal conviction demonstrates the department’s commitment to holding Boeing accountable for its misconduct.”

The statement also raised the possibility of more legal problems ahead for Boeing and its executives. It said that while no individuals face criminal charges as a result of this agreement, “DOJ is resolving only with the company — and providing no immunity to any individual employees, including corporate executives, for any conduct.”

“DOJ is resolving with Boeing only for misconduct that predated the 737 Max crashes — and not providing immunity for any other corporate conduct, including the Alaska Airlines 1282 incident,” it added. While no one was severely injured in that flight, CNN has confirmed that passengers and crew on that flight have received notice that they might be considered victims of a crime.

According to the charges, the company defrauded the Federal Aviation Administration during the process of certifying the 737 Max to carry its first passengers. The plane started service in 2017, but the two fatal crashes led to a 20-month grounding of the jets. Investigations revealed a design flaw in its autopilot system. Boeing has admitted responsibility for the fatal crashes, and that its employees withheld information about the design flaw from the FAA during certification.

 

[NationalTitles18]

https://www.chron.com/culture/article/southwest-water-boeing-737-flight-19587187.php

FAA investigating Southwest flight that came 175 feet from water
It's the latest in a string of Boeing 737 MAX incidents.

 

[mdb-tpet]

Fair criticism and I don't know the legal details, including possible NDA's or other reasons like fearing suicide by another's hands that kept him from coming forward previously.

Plus history is littered with people who will do most anything to keep their job, prestige, and/or pensions. I have no knowledge of why he kept quiet so long.

 

[Elefantman]

https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/boeing-asks-suppliers-decade-long-titanium-paper-trail-check-forgeries-widens-2024-07-26/

 

[NationalTitles18]

It's Sounding Like Boeing's Starliner May Have Completely Failed

Boeing Starliner seems to have failed because NASA officials are likely to hire Boeing rival SpaceX to rescue the two stranded astronauts.

futurism.com

It looks like NASA officials might be seeing the writing on the wall for the very troubled Boeing Starliner, which has marooned two astronauts up in space for almost two months due to technical issues.

An unnamed "informed" source told Ars Technica that there's a greater than 50 percent probability that the stranded astronauts will end up leaving the International Space Station on a SpaceX Dragon capsule, with another unnamed person telling the news outlet that the scenario is highly likely.

NASA officials are more cagey about what's happening on the record, a marked contrast from previous weeks when they expressed confidence in the Starliner's ability to safely bring back the astronauts.

"NASA is evaluating all options for the return of agency astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams from the International Space Station as safely as possible," NASA spokesperson Josh Finch told Ars. "No decisions have been made and the agency will continue to provide updates on its planning."

 

[Bamaro]

It's Sounding Like Boeing's Starliner May Have Completely Failed

Boeing Starliner seems to have failed because NASA officials are likely to hire Boeing rival SpaceX to rescue the two stranded astronauts.

futurism.com

Hopefully the new CEO can fix whats broken with the company.

 

[crimsonaudio]

Hopefully the new CEO can fix whats broken with the company.

FWIW, the CEO of BCA (Boeing Commercial Airplanes) and BDS (Boeing Defense, Space & Security) are different. They're basically two separate companies under the Boeing umbrella.

 

[Elefantman]

FWIW, the CEO of BCA (Boeing Commercial Airplanes) and BDS (Boeing Defense, Space & Security) are different. They're basically two separate companies under the same leaking Boeing umbrella.

FIFY

 

[crimsonaudio]

Oof

The Crew 9 delay is relevant to the Starliner dilemma for a couple of reasons. One, it gives NASA more time to determine the flight-worthiness of Starliner. However, there is also another surprising reason for the delay—the need to update Starliner’s flight software. Three separate, well-placed sources have confirmed to Ars that the current flight software on board Starliner cannot perform an automated undocking from the space station and entry into Earth’s atmosphere.

At first blush, this seems absurd. After all, Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test 2 mission in May 2022 was a fully automated test of the Starliner vehicle. During this mission, the spacecraft flew up to the space station without crew on board and then returned to Earth six days later. Although the 2022 flight test was completed by a different Starliner vehicle, it clearly demonstrated the ability of the program's flight software to autonomously dock and return to Earth. Boeing did not respond to a media query about why this capability was removed for the crew flight test.

NASA likely to significantly delay the launch of Crew 9 due to Starliner issues

The primary reason for the delay is rather surprising.

arstechnica.com

 

[jthomas666]

Every time you say, "well, it can't get any worse..."

 

[TIDE-HSV]

I have to fly San Diego to San Francisco and I'm taking Southwest because Delta's schedule is awful. It's on a Boeing 737-700. Doesn't look that different from a Max...

 

[crimsonaudio]

I have to fly San Diego to San Francisco and I'm taking Southwest because Delta's schedule is awful. It's on a Boeing 737-700. Doesn't look that different from a Max...

I was flown to Orlando in May via Southwest for a seminar - 737Max both ways. Zero issues.

 

[Bamaro]

I'd rather be on a Max than a Starliner right now.

 

[jthomas666]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/08/06/ntsb-boeing-737-hearing/

 

[crimsonaudio]

 

[crimsonaudio]

NASA Clown Car Plan Would Stuff Extra Astronauts Into SpaceX Capsule to Avoid Return Journey in Disastrous Boeing Starliner

NASA has been considering stuffing its two stranded astronauts into SpaceX's already fully occupied Crew-8 spacecraft.

futurism.com

 

[crimsonaudio]

 

[4Q Basket Case]

Hopefully the new CEO can fix whats broken with the company.

When you have this many things going wrong, for so long, on so many different fronts, there's no single thing that's the problem....it's a cultural issue.

While the banking industry doesn't endanger anybody's life, it does have a similar low upside / high downside risk profile, and I saw cultural issues at some big names in the banking industry. The root cause of every single one of them was mis-structured incentive plans -- and not just at the C-Suite level. Bad incentives for middle management and production personnel can be at least as damaging.

So if I'm the new CEO at Boeing, I'm reviewing every stinkin' incentive plan in the company for payouts based on short-term goals at the expense of longer-term performance.

Mis-structured plans can incent a zillion things that are often mis-characterized as problems, but are in fact symptoms of the real problem: short-term thinking, cost cutting (i.e., "cutting corners"), cover-ups, accounting "irregularities" to accelerate revenue and delay expense, and ignoring longer-term risks.

Guaranteed: He'll find that short-term financial results have been richly rewarded, while high-quality production has been devalued or ignored in that there is little to no incentive to do things the right way.

When you incent the wrong things in banking, you put the institution, its employees, and its shareholders at risk. Depositors might get a scare, but they'll get their money.

When you incent the wrong things in commercial aviation the company, shareholders and employees are also at risk. But you additionally put legions of passengers at literal life-or-death risk.

Moral to the story: Be careful what you incent....there's a 100% chance you will get it.

 

[crimsonaudio]

WASHINGTON, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Boeing (BA.N), opens new tab and Lockheed Martin (LMT.N), opens new tab are in talks to sell their rocket-launching joint venture United Launch Alliance to Sierra Space, two people familiar with the discussions said.

A deal could value ULA at around $2 billion to $3 billion, the sources said.

A deal to sell ULA, a major provider of launch services to the U.S. government and a top rival to Elon Musk's SpaceX, would mark a significant shift in the U.S. space launch industry as ULA separates from two of the largest defense contractors to a smaller, privately held firm.

Exclusive: Boeing, Lockheed Martin in talks to sell rocket-launch firm ULA to Sierra Space