Ralph Nader: Boeing 737 Max 'should never fly again'

[nitpicker]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-ralph-nader-niece-boeing-lawsuit-20190404-story.html

Ralph Nader: Boeing 737 Max 'should never fly again'

By Lauren Zumbach
Chicago Tribune

Ralph Nader, the noted consumer rights advocate, called for a recall and consumer boycott of the Boeing jet grounded by regulators across the globe after two deadly crashes.

His niece, 24-year-old Samya Stumo, was among the 157 victims of an Ethiopian Airlines flight crash last month, less than six months after a flight on the same aircraft, the Boeing 737 Max 8, crashed in Indonesia.

“Those planes should never fly again,” said Nader, speaking by phone at a news conference after Stumo’s family filed a lawsuit against Chicago-based Boeing, one of its suppliers and Ethiopian Airlines. The family also filed a claim against the Federal Aviation Administration.
(snip)

On Thursday, he took aim at Boeing, blaming the crashes on design problems that he argued were the result of the company’s focus on getting the plane on the market quickly to compete with its rival manufacturer Airbus.

He also criticized the relationship between Boeing and the federal agency tasked with overseeing aviation industry safety.

“If we don’t end the cozy relationship between the patsy FAA…and the Boeing company, 5,000 of these fatally flawed planes will be in the air all over the world with millions of passengers,” Nader said.
(snip)

[TexasProgresive]

1. I was thinking that Boeing execs should be charged with negligent homicide.

I don't know if there is such a charge, but I believe cost cutting has a lot to do with this tragedy. This cost cutters should be held accountable for costing the lives of all those people.

You never design a system to prevent a dangerous situation with one sensor. That right there should've been a red flag. Then there was the optional (read more $$$) feature that was left out. Boeing is attempting to fix the problem with software which is probably needed but the addition of hardware needs to be installed on all of these planes out of Boeing's pocket. Even with that I am more in line with Nader on this issue. These planes need to be permanently grounded.

We may all be flying Air Bus in the future. The great Boeing may be in a flat spin.

My only qualification is having once been an avionics tech in the Air Force. I am old but I still have a brain.

I have long held a concern about the over reliance upon sensors and computer driven systems. Sensors fail and we all know about computer glitches or outright crashes. Think about this plane's trouble when you wish for autonomous automobiles.

[cstanleytech]

7. If they knew of the problem when they sold the planes shouldn't it be 1st degree murder?

[Karadeniz]

9. Agreed!

[Mustellus]

2. I'm sorry for his loss....

.. but he single handedly elected republican presidents. He could never put aside his ego, for the good of the country. And while recent Green Party candidates get to sit at Putin's table, Nader was merely financed by the Republicans.

[gordianot]

4. Nader is correct the Boeing 737 max planes should never again fly.

That being said Nader himself is personally responsible for many more deaths in Republican oil wars.

[dalton99a]

10. +1

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

3. The 737 has been around for over 50 years

The Max version can be fixed.

Sorry for your loss none the less

[cab67]

5. my understanding

(which could be wrong) is that the problem had more to do with the onboard computer and software than with the overall design of the plane itself.

[bluecollar2]

6. I don't agree with the first point

Grounding the aircraft permanently but wholeheartedly agree with ending the current FAA as it exists.

The idea that any corporation is capable of policing itself is ludicrous. This is especially true in a iation.

After over 30 years in the business and almost half of them in quality assurance I speak from experience.

[Sherman A1]

8. Precisely

I am sorry for his loss and the loss that others incurred in these incidents.

These aircraft were badly designed and they should all be scrapped wherever they are located. Boeing should reimburse their customers for the aircraft that were purchased. The executives should face criminal charges if culpable and Boeing along with the FAA need to spend a significant amount of time explaining their failure before numerous courts both in the US and across the world as civil suits move forward.

May their lives be filled with lawyers.