1 00:00:01,480 --> 00:00:04,960 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you Should Know, a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:11,039 --> 00:00:13,520 Speaker 2: Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh and there's 3 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:16,479 Speaker 2: Chuck and we are just flying the friendly skies with 4 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:21,079 Speaker 2: our co pilot Jerry and our other copilot God. And 5 00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:23,720 Speaker 2: this is stuff you should know. I thought it was 6 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:27,280 Speaker 2: dog Yeah yeah. 7 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:31,680 Speaker 1: Okay, Well before we get going, there is kind of 8 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:33,600 Speaker 1: an exciting thing we need to mention. And we're gonna 9 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:35,600 Speaker 1: mention this. You know, you're probably gonna get sick of 10 00:00:35,680 --> 00:00:38,919 Speaker 1: us talking about it. But stuff you should know is 11 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:42,919 Speaker 1: going on a cruise, Yeah, sea cruise, and not just 12 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:46,760 Speaker 1: like so long, suckers, we're going on vacation, right, it's 13 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:49,199 Speaker 1: like a stuff cruise with other like stuff they don't 14 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:51,200 Speaker 1: want you to know is going to be there. We're 15 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:54,400 Speaker 1: doing our live podcast on board and it's like, hey, 16 00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:57,160 Speaker 1: stuff you should know listeners, Come come cruise with us. 17 00:00:57,280 --> 00:00:59,640 Speaker 2: Yeah, come cruise with us. I think that's the message 18 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:04,080 Speaker 2: that we're out right now. Is on Virgin Voyages. It's 19 00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:08,720 Speaker 2: just pretty swank, and it's October second to the seventh. 20 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:11,840 Speaker 2: It's five day cruise from New York City to Bermuda 21 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:14,840 Speaker 2: and back. Even they bring you back to your car. 22 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:17,680 Speaker 1: I think I think that's kind of key. Yeah, it's 23 00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:20,520 Speaker 1: an adults only thing, yep. And I think the name 24 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:24,760 Speaker 1: of it is the Big Apple to Bermuda Cruise. And yeah, 25 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:26,120 Speaker 1: it's gonna be a lot of fun. So you know, 26 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:28,440 Speaker 1: like I said, we're doing our live podcast and we're 27 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:31,040 Speaker 1: gonna be doing some other fun events that they haven't 28 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:33,520 Speaker 1: told us about yet. The feeling will be like trivia 29 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:36,920 Speaker 1: and stuff like that. But Jerry is going, and that's 30 00:01:36,959 --> 00:01:38,280 Speaker 1: reason enough to sign up. I think. 31 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:40,760 Speaker 2: Yeah, you can verify in person that Jerry is. 32 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:43,679 Speaker 1: It's right. You might be able to rub some suntan 33 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:44,640 Speaker 1: lotion on her back too. 34 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:47,240 Speaker 2: So where do people go to sign up for this 35 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:48,000 Speaker 2: sea cruise? 36 00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:49,440 Speaker 1: Yeah, you know what I would do. I think we're 37 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:52,280 Speaker 1: gonna have some like super specific information coming, but just 38 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:55,320 Speaker 1: get on your search engine and check out stuff at 39 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:59,600 Speaker 1: sea Virgin Voyages and that'll direct you. I can't wait. 40 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:01,840 Speaker 2: Yeah, I can't wait either. We'll see all of you 41 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:04,080 Speaker 2: in October on the high seas. 42 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:08,000 Speaker 1: That's right. This episode is not about ships. Actually, it's 43 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:09,480 Speaker 1: about a plane. 44 00:02:09,040 --> 00:02:11,400 Speaker 2: Which is technically a ship. It's an airship. 45 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:15,040 Speaker 1: An airship. Yeah, yeah, that's a good way. 46 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:16,840 Speaker 2: To say it. Yeah, that's how most people say it. 47 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:18,720 Speaker 1: I'm trying to watch what I say about this one 48 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:20,079 Speaker 1: because it's pretty touchy. 49 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:24,160 Speaker 2: It is touchy, but it's just such a shameful chapter 50 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:29,080 Speaker 2: in the history of what was long regarded one of 51 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:32,880 Speaker 2: the best engineering firms in the world, the Boeing Corporation. 52 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:36,839 Speaker 2: They made great airplanes, They were very innovative, they made 53 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:40,440 Speaker 2: very safe airplanes. They cared about the details. They put 54 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:45,000 Speaker 2: engineering standards before profit, and all of that just got 55 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:47,520 Speaker 2: wiped out in the course of a few years, from 56 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:51,800 Speaker 2: about two thoy eighteen to nineteen. All of it just 57 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:54,560 Speaker 2: wentroop when it came to light that they had flip 58 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:57,639 Speaker 2: flopped that a few years before and profits now came 59 00:02:57,680 --> 00:02:58,679 Speaker 2: before standards. 60 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:01,960 Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, we'll talk about in more detail, but 61 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:04,519 Speaker 1: you know, the end result, as everybody knows at this point, 62 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:08,600 Speaker 1: is two of their seven thirty seven Max planes crashed, 63 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:10,840 Speaker 1: fell out of the sky. Yeah, and killed a lot 64 00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:16,200 Speaker 1: of people. Super sad and it's very sort of anger 65 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:19,359 Speaker 1: inducing when you know the story behind it all. So 66 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:23,240 Speaker 1: we're gonna detail that now starting. I guess we should 67 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:26,079 Speaker 1: say that the seven thirty seven Max airplane that we're 68 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:29,079 Speaker 1: talking about was a brand new fleet that was gonna 69 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:34,160 Speaker 1: replace the old seven thirty sevens and compete with their rival, Airbus, 70 00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:36,480 Speaker 1: the Airbus A three twenty neo. 71 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:40,760 Speaker 2: Yeah, and Airbus has long been Boeing's rival since Boeing 72 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:44,960 Speaker 2: bought McDonald Douglass back in I think the nineties, and 73 00:03:45,040 --> 00:03:47,960 Speaker 2: so it's just been Boeing Airbus head to head to 74 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:51,360 Speaker 2: supply the world with their airplanes and the seven thirty 75 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:54,160 Speaker 2: seven Max. The reason that they were updating the seven 76 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:56,680 Speaker 2: thirty sevens is one, like you said, these were old 77 00:03:57,000 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 2: seven thirty sevens that needed to be replaced. But also 78 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:03,000 Speaker 2: so that Airbus A three twenty neo it was like 79 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:07,200 Speaker 2: a step up, like it was the same kind of body, 80 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:09,160 Speaker 2: like I think a narrow body is what it's called 81 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:13,680 Speaker 2: narrowbody mid sized plane as the seven thirty seven. So 82 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:15,880 Speaker 2: companies now had an option they could be like, well, 83 00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:17,920 Speaker 2: we're going to go with this Airbus instead of replacing 84 00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:21,680 Speaker 2: the Bowings with Boeings. So Boeing said, good god, we've 85 00:04:21,680 --> 00:04:24,039 Speaker 2: got to get out there and give them something that 86 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:26,839 Speaker 2: they're going to want. Besides this A three twenty neo. 87 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:31,479 Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure, I think should should we save talk 88 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:33,880 Speaker 1: of the actual incidents untill later, I. 89 00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:36,200 Speaker 2: Think just mentioning that they happened was enough for now. 90 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:40,039 Speaker 1: All right, Well, what you're gonna hear is gonna infuriate 91 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:42,200 Speaker 1: you a little bit. It's also gonna shine a bit 92 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:44,200 Speaker 1: of a light on some of the which will also 93 00:04:44,279 --> 00:04:47,560 Speaker 1: infuriate you. Just some of the systemic problems with the 94 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:51,320 Speaker 1: airline industry as a whole and how these planes are 95 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:54,159 Speaker 1: approved for being safe to fly in the sky. And 96 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:59,560 Speaker 1: the FAA is going to take some hits deservedly. But 97 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:02,719 Speaker 1: we should probably start out by talking about Boeing. You know, 98 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:05,880 Speaker 1: you mentioned that they were, you know, dedicated to the 99 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:10,680 Speaker 1: top notch engineering for decades and decades, but starting in 100 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:13,159 Speaker 1: the nineties that started to change, right. 101 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:16,520 Speaker 2: Yeah, there was a CEO that kind of kicked it 102 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:19,440 Speaker 2: all off. His name was Philip Condit, and in nineteen 103 00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:23,160 Speaker 2: ninety seven he said, we're going to acquire McDonald douglas. 104 00:05:23,160 --> 00:05:25,520 Speaker 2: Like I said, up to that point, McDonald douglas was 105 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:30,119 Speaker 2: also a neck and neck competitor with Boeing, But rather 106 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:35,320 Speaker 2: than making their name as also like a great engineering 107 00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:39,080 Speaker 2: firm with innovation and a mind to safety, McDonald douglas 108 00:05:39,200 --> 00:05:42,200 Speaker 2: is like, no, we're just going to cut costs Yeah, 109 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:45,359 Speaker 2: Whereas Boeing, if they were going to design a new plane, 110 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:46,520 Speaker 2: or if they were going to come up with a 111 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:49,280 Speaker 2: new plane, they would start from scratch and design a 112 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:52,719 Speaker 2: new plane and probably set all the industry standards for 113 00:05:52,800 --> 00:05:56,760 Speaker 2: decades to follow. What McDonald Douglas did was they would 114 00:05:56,800 --> 00:05:58,599 Speaker 2: design a plane and then they would go back to 115 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:01,840 Speaker 2: it over a decade and decad decade after decade and 116 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:05,200 Speaker 2: just kind of revamp it and update. Yet that is 117 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:08,320 Speaker 2: essentially what you call clue g. It can be done, 118 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:10,960 Speaker 2: obviously because they were doing it, but it is so 119 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:15,680 Speaker 2: much worse than designing a new plane from scratch. It's 120 00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:17,560 Speaker 2: just it costs a lot less and it takes a 121 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:18,480 Speaker 2: lot less time. 122 00:06:19,279 --> 00:06:22,799 Speaker 1: Yeah, because over those decades, over those thirty to forty years, 123 00:06:22,839 --> 00:06:26,800 Speaker 1: there have been so many innovations in flight technology that, like, 124 00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:29,760 Speaker 1: you could build a really great airplane from the ground 125 00:06:29,839 --> 00:06:32,440 Speaker 1: up if that's what you wanted to do. We should 126 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:34,880 Speaker 1: mention that all of that. Did you name that first 127 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:38,280 Speaker 1: CEO from ninety seven, Yeah, Philip Condit, Okay, so he 128 00:06:38,320 --> 00:06:41,240 Speaker 1: was the first guy. The other thing that he did, 129 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:43,080 Speaker 1: and this was a little bit later, this was I 130 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:47,080 Speaker 1: think four years after he was named CEO he he 131 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:50,880 Speaker 1: didn't split up Boeing like a breakup, but he split 132 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:54,200 Speaker 1: them up physically, and that he moved their headquarters from 133 00:06:54,279 --> 00:06:58,000 Speaker 1: their longtime home in Seattle to Chicago. And he did 134 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:01,440 Speaker 1: this for allows three million bucks a year. It was 135 00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:05,120 Speaker 1: sixty million dollars in state and local tax credit over 136 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:08,479 Speaker 1: a twenty year period. Three million bucks a year for 137 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:10,960 Speaker 1: a company like this is like chicken scratch. 138 00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:11,600 Speaker 2: Yeah. 139 00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:13,760 Speaker 1: So it was a bit of a head scratcher move 140 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:16,160 Speaker 1: because you had a company that had everything under one 141 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:19,559 Speaker 1: roof in Seattle, and now you had these Seattle based 142 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:24,160 Speaker 1: engineers working there, and you had the C suite in Chicago. 143 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:27,520 Speaker 1: And that's anytime that happens that. I mean, I know 144 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:30,280 Speaker 1: people can work remotely and stuff like that, but it 145 00:07:30,320 --> 00:07:32,720 Speaker 1: seemed like a great idea to have everything there in Seattle. 146 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:35,920 Speaker 2: Yeah. And plus up to that point, with the executives 147 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:38,680 Speaker 2: and the decision makers working very closely with like the 148 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:43,560 Speaker 2: engineers and product division, those engineers knew the executives, they 149 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:46,000 Speaker 2: had a working relationship with them, so they felt comfortable 150 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:47,920 Speaker 2: saying like, I don't really think we should do that 151 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:49,880 Speaker 2: because it's going to make the plane fall out of 152 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:52,720 Speaker 2: the sky and the executives would listen, this is like 153 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:55,600 Speaker 2: they didn't know these people anymore. It just got separated. 154 00:07:56,080 --> 00:07:59,520 Speaker 2: And this transition really kind of became complete when a 155 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:02,720 Speaker 2: guy named Harry Stone Cipher took over from Philip Condit 156 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:05,360 Speaker 2: in two thousand and three. He became CEO. He used 157 00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:08,200 Speaker 2: to be a general electric, but he was most recently 158 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:13,080 Speaker 2: with McDonald douglas. And even though that Boeing acquired McDonald douglas, 159 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:19,240 Speaker 2: McDonald douglas influenced Boeing's culture. Boeing's culture became that same 160 00:08:19,400 --> 00:08:26,680 Speaker 2: cost cutting like focus, shareholder holder verse. Yes, exactly, that 161 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:30,720 Speaker 2: kind of focus that became what Boeing adopted after guys 162 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:33,000 Speaker 2: like Kerry stone Cipher took over Boeing. 163 00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:36,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, he has a quote he been uh he said 164 00:08:36,040 --> 00:08:38,600 Speaker 1: when people say I changed the culture of Boeing, that 165 00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:41,080 Speaker 1: was the intent, so that so that it is run 166 00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:44,200 Speaker 1: like a business rather than a great engineering firm. And 167 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:46,559 Speaker 1: that's one of those quotes where I was like, bro, 168 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:49,000 Speaker 1: you just said that out loud to the press, Like right, 169 00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:51,760 Speaker 1: no one wants to hear that. Yeah, well, I guess 170 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:55,040 Speaker 1: shareholders did, but exactly everyone else the public at large 171 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:56,880 Speaker 1: ones safe planes that don't fall out of the sky. 172 00:08:56,960 --> 00:08:59,960 Speaker 2: Yeah, but he was putting a signal out, a bats 173 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:03,400 Speaker 2: signal of sort saying like, hey, investors, come invest in Boeing, 174 00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:05,320 Speaker 2: We're gonna make a of course, some money for you. 175 00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:09,479 Speaker 2: And they started to The next CEO is Jim McNerney, 176 00:09:10,040 --> 00:09:13,960 Speaker 2: and he was the one who you can really put 177 00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:18,440 Speaker 2: the most most of the blame for the design of 178 00:09:18,480 --> 00:09:22,800 Speaker 2: the seven thirty seven Max from him onward. Essentially every 179 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:26,920 Speaker 2: single CEO had some sort of direct personal blame for 180 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:29,640 Speaker 2: what happened, but he was the one who was like, 181 00:09:29,880 --> 00:09:31,800 Speaker 2: we need to get this plane out, We need to 182 00:09:31,800 --> 00:09:34,200 Speaker 2: get it out fast, we need to cut every corner 183 00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:37,040 Speaker 2: we possibly can to save time and money. Go. 184 00:09:38,120 --> 00:09:41,560 Speaker 1: Yeah. So he ran the company until twenty fifteen, so 185 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:44,880 Speaker 1: he oversaws sort of all of that planning and development basically. 186 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:48,920 Speaker 1: And then after that CEO, Man, I just hate saying 187 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:52,600 Speaker 1: that CEO over and over a bad days in my mouth. 188 00:09:53,679 --> 00:09:58,000 Speaker 1: The new guy's name was Dennis Muhlenberg, and he, you know, 189 00:09:58,040 --> 00:10:00,439 Speaker 1: obviously inherited quite a mess after what we're about to 190 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:00,840 Speaker 1: talk about. 191 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:04,440 Speaker 2: Right, So, like I said, like these guys were saying, like, 192 00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:06,719 Speaker 2: come on, we got to get going, Like Airbus is 193 00:10:06,760 --> 00:10:08,680 Speaker 2: already several steps ahead, and we need to get this 194 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:12,040 Speaker 2: thing out so people can start ordering before Airbus just 195 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:14,679 Speaker 2: sucks all of the market share out of US. I 196 00:10:14,760 --> 00:10:19,439 Speaker 2: saw that they put countdown clocks for different deadlines all 197 00:10:19,480 --> 00:10:22,440 Speaker 2: throughout the office, in meeting rooms, conference rooms, there was 198 00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:26,160 Speaker 2: constantly a clock counting down while you were at work. Yeah, 199 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:29,640 Speaker 2: engineers got the impression. And sometimes we're told directly like 200 00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:30,720 Speaker 2: keep your mouth shut. 201 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:31,560 Speaker 1: Yeah. 202 00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:34,160 Speaker 2: The head of the project for the seven thirty seven 203 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:37,640 Speaker 2: Max people didn't report directly to them anymore. They reported 204 00:10:37,679 --> 00:10:39,400 Speaker 2: to their heads, and their heads may or may not 205 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:44,080 Speaker 2: have told that project manager about any problems that came up. 206 00:10:44,280 --> 00:10:48,360 Speaker 2: So this whole rushed project also had like an aura 207 00:10:48,440 --> 00:10:51,160 Speaker 2: of just keep your mouth shut, do not do anything 208 00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:51,840 Speaker 2: to delay this. 209 00:10:52,800 --> 00:10:55,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure. And you know, as we'll see later, 210 00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:58,840 Speaker 1: there were whistleblowers. But when it takes a like somebody 211 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:02,760 Speaker 1: requesting whistleblow or protection to come forward, especially with I 212 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:05,360 Speaker 1: mean in any corporation, but especially when it's something that's 213 00:11:05,679 --> 00:11:08,959 Speaker 1: dealing with like public safety, that's not how it should be. 214 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:11,240 Speaker 1: You know, you should be able to to say hey, 215 00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:13,800 Speaker 1: at your work, this is without fear of being of 216 00:11:13,840 --> 00:11:15,880 Speaker 1: a reprisal. You know, like, we're not doing the right 217 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:16,680 Speaker 1: thing here, right. 218 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:18,360 Speaker 2: And it used to be you didn't even need to 219 00:11:18,400 --> 00:11:20,839 Speaker 2: whistle blow. You would go to the executives and be like, hey, 220 00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:22,679 Speaker 2: this is a real problem, this is not safe, and 221 00:11:22,760 --> 00:11:25,240 Speaker 2: they would listen to you. That wasn't the case anymore. 222 00:11:27,120 --> 00:11:28,080 Speaker 1: Should we take a break? 223 00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:28,880 Speaker 2: Sure? 224 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:31,480 Speaker 1: All right, let's take a break and we'll come back 225 00:11:31,760 --> 00:11:51,480 Speaker 1: with the design phase right after this. All right, we're back. 226 00:11:52,240 --> 00:11:54,560 Speaker 1: I know we talked a little bit at first about 227 00:11:54,559 --> 00:11:58,240 Speaker 1: how they decided to sort of revamp this decade's old 228 00:11:58,240 --> 00:12:01,520 Speaker 1: fleet design wise, instead of starting from scratch with all 229 00:12:01,520 --> 00:12:04,439 Speaker 1: this great new technology. But that's what they did. They 230 00:12:04,440 --> 00:12:07,520 Speaker 1: took that seven thirty seven body, they made a lot 231 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:10,880 Speaker 1: of changes, It added bigger engines. And one of the 232 00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:13,520 Speaker 1: things that was the result, and they knew this by 233 00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:17,200 Speaker 1: twenty twelve, basically was that they had created a problem, 234 00:12:17,280 --> 00:12:22,600 Speaker 1: a balance problem, whereas at certain speeds you could potentially 235 00:12:22,600 --> 00:12:25,640 Speaker 1: go into a stall because the airplane's nose drifted upward. 236 00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:29,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, because they basically took the same plane and just 237 00:12:29,520 --> 00:12:33,280 Speaker 2: put giant engines that the plane was never designed for, 238 00:12:33,480 --> 00:12:37,839 Speaker 2: and it just knocked it out of balance. Right, And 239 00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:39,840 Speaker 2: you would say, well, why didn't they just move the wings. 240 00:12:39,920 --> 00:12:41,640 Speaker 2: There was a good reason they didn't move the wings, 241 00:12:41,640 --> 00:12:44,120 Speaker 2: because the more changes you make to an airplane, the 242 00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:46,640 Speaker 2: more likely it is that all the pilots at all 243 00:12:46,679 --> 00:12:49,600 Speaker 2: the different airlines that fly that plane are going to 244 00:12:49,679 --> 00:12:53,920 Speaker 2: need updated training. Right, the FA will require it. Airlines 245 00:12:53,920 --> 00:12:56,320 Speaker 2: don't like that. That's an added cost to the plane 246 00:12:56,360 --> 00:13:00,600 Speaker 2: you're selling them, So they did. They bent themselves into 247 00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:07,160 Speaker 2: pretzels trying to avoid making actual big changes. They just tried. 248 00:13:07,320 --> 00:13:09,360 Speaker 2: They were playing whack a mole with all the problems 249 00:13:09,400 --> 00:13:12,400 Speaker 2: that came up, with an eye toward not actually doing 250 00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:14,280 Speaker 2: the one thing that would solved the problem, which is 251 00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:17,880 Speaker 2: redesigned the wings. So what they came up with instead 252 00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:21,800 Speaker 2: was some software that would take over and make the 253 00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:27,000 Speaker 2: nose go back level whenever it got out of a 254 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:28,320 Speaker 2: suitable angle of attack. 255 00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:31,680 Speaker 1: It's called yeah, it's called the And this is the 256 00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:34,520 Speaker 1: real sort of well I was going to say the 257 00:13:34,520 --> 00:13:36,840 Speaker 1: real villain, but the real villains were the humans behind 258 00:13:36,840 --> 00:13:41,240 Speaker 1: this decision. But we're talking about the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation 259 00:13:41,520 --> 00:13:45,559 Speaker 1: System the MCAS, and this thing, like you said, I 260 00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:47,920 Speaker 1: don't know if it was clear, but it literally takes 261 00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:52,000 Speaker 1: over controls of the plane and takes like supposedly takes 262 00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:55,680 Speaker 1: care of the issue for the pilot instead of saying like, hey, 263 00:13:56,160 --> 00:13:59,080 Speaker 1: you know, let's redesign this plane or at least train 264 00:13:59,160 --> 00:14:01,880 Speaker 1: these pilots to rectify this on their own with with 265 00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:04,760 Speaker 1: their hands on on the wheel. Now, what's that thing. 266 00:14:04,679 --> 00:14:07,240 Speaker 2: Called the stick? I think they call it the stick? 267 00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:09,559 Speaker 1: Is it the stick in big planes too? Probably, I'm 268 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:12,720 Speaker 1: pretty sure, just a larger stick. Yeah, the big on 269 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:16,400 Speaker 1: the truck, the big stick. They said, we designed this 270 00:14:16,520 --> 00:14:19,640 Speaker 1: wizbang software that's going to do that for you. And 271 00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:24,320 Speaker 1: when they went around to test flight mode, I think 272 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:29,000 Speaker 1: it was like twenty sixteen, the MCAS was still a 273 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:30,760 Speaker 1: pretty small part of this whole thing, but it was 274 00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:31,680 Speaker 1: part of the aircraft. 275 00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:34,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, And then they started testing this new design and 276 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:37,440 Speaker 2: simulators and I know, at least once, I think in 277 00:14:37,480 --> 00:14:43,280 Speaker 2: twenty twelve, they the I think the head test pilot 278 00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:47,880 Speaker 2: for Boeing took ten seconds to override the mcast and 279 00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:50,680 Speaker 2: crashed and they were like, oh, okay, we need to 280 00:14:50,760 --> 00:14:53,600 Speaker 2: keep working on this. So again they're back to playing 281 00:14:53,640 --> 00:14:56,120 Speaker 2: whack a mole. Like the band aid that they put 282 00:14:56,160 --> 00:14:59,120 Speaker 2: on the issue of the imbalance, which was the software 283 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:01,720 Speaker 2: now has its own so now they're fixing those, and 284 00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:03,640 Speaker 2: then that would bring up more bugs and more bugs, 285 00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:05,560 Speaker 2: so they had to fix those and those and those, 286 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:10,680 Speaker 2: And this was where the design for the Boeing seven 287 00:15:10,760 --> 00:15:13,760 Speaker 2: thirty seven Max like really started to get out of hand. 288 00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:17,840 Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure, because like I said, it was a 289 00:15:17,880 --> 00:15:19,800 Speaker 1: pretty small part of the system at first. It had 290 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:22,200 Speaker 1: kind of that one function I think initially, or was 291 00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:24,960 Speaker 1: supposed to. But by the time you're playing whack the mole, 292 00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:27,240 Speaker 1: it keeps growing and growing and you're like, well, then 293 00:15:27,600 --> 00:15:29,800 Speaker 1: the software will solve this problem, and then the software 294 00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:32,480 Speaker 1: should solve this problem, and all of a sudden as 295 00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:36,600 Speaker 1: it's interacting with these plane systems. It's a huge part 296 00:15:36,600 --> 00:15:37,520 Speaker 1: of flying this plane. 297 00:15:37,800 --> 00:15:40,640 Speaker 2: Yeah, and they had to integrate it with the existing software. 298 00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:44,480 Speaker 2: They couldn't redo the software or the flight controls or else. Again, 299 00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:47,360 Speaker 2: you have pilot training that you've just triggered, right, So 300 00:15:47,800 --> 00:15:50,600 Speaker 2: they were just basically hammering this thing into place as 301 00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:54,720 Speaker 2: best they could. The way that it finally worked was 302 00:15:54,840 --> 00:15:59,280 Speaker 2: there were two sensors on the nose that since the 303 00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:04,520 Speaker 2: angle of the plane right, and when the sensors sent 304 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:07,720 Speaker 2: information saying, hey, this plane's at way too steep of 305 00:16:07,760 --> 00:16:10,720 Speaker 2: an angle, it could stall out if it goes any further. 306 00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:16,040 Speaker 2: If it goes any further up, the MCAST system literally, 307 00:16:16,080 --> 00:16:18,400 Speaker 2: like you said, took over the flight controls and then 308 00:16:18,520 --> 00:16:22,280 Speaker 2: leveled the plane back out. Right. There was a huge 309 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:26,560 Speaker 2: issue that they made it. They designed it which still 310 00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:31,400 Speaker 2: befuddles engineers aerospace engineers today, so that only one of 311 00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:35,920 Speaker 2: those sensors saying the plane's angle was wrong could trigger 312 00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:40,000 Speaker 2: the MCAST. Like, there was no redundancy. So if one 313 00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:42,120 Speaker 2: of those sensors was faulty and the other was fine, 314 00:16:42,200 --> 00:16:44,400 Speaker 2: it didn't matter. The faulty one was going to tell 315 00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:47,920 Speaker 2: the MCAST to level out, even if the plane's angle 316 00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:49,280 Speaker 2: wasn't actually an issue. 317 00:16:50,080 --> 00:16:53,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, like the whole idea there is, if one sensor 318 00:16:53,680 --> 00:16:56,000 Speaker 1: goes off, you want to have that other sensor that 319 00:16:56,080 --> 00:16:58,440 Speaker 1: aligns with it and says, yeah, we're getting the same 320 00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:01,520 Speaker 1: readings or whatever, which is you know, it's that backup, 321 00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:04,800 Speaker 1: it's that redundancy that you need. You need that matching 322 00:17:04,880 --> 00:17:09,119 Speaker 1: data before that thing engages itself. So they said, you 323 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:13,440 Speaker 1: know what, we've done our calculations, and we think it's 324 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:16,480 Speaker 1: much simpler this way, and the risk of catastrophic failure 325 00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:20,439 Speaker 1: is quote almost inconceivable. Yeah, I think they figured the 326 00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:24,080 Speaker 1: probability was one per two hundred and twenty three trillion 327 00:17:24,119 --> 00:17:27,119 Speaker 1: hours of flight. So they said, you know what, we 328 00:17:27,119 --> 00:17:29,520 Speaker 1: don't need this redundancy, it's not necessary. 329 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:31,919 Speaker 2: Which is still it's just insane, like that is a 330 00:17:32,040 --> 00:17:35,920 Speaker 2: basic principle. Redundancy is a basic principle of any engineering, right, 331 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:39,040 Speaker 2: And it's just I don't I still couldn't find why 332 00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:41,399 Speaker 2: they made that decision, why it was so much harder 333 00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:44,200 Speaker 2: for that to have the sensors have to match. It's 334 00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:47,240 Speaker 2: just nuts. But as we'll see, somebody clearly forgot to 335 00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:50,040 Speaker 2: carry the one because that that calculation they came up 336 00:17:50,040 --> 00:17:55,080 Speaker 2: with for that probability was not yeah, correctrect So there 337 00:17:55,119 --> 00:17:58,440 Speaker 2: was another thing that they did. They didn't tell anybody 338 00:17:58,600 --> 00:17:59,880 Speaker 2: about the mcast. 339 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:02,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, this is the one that really gets me. 340 00:18:02,920 --> 00:18:06,640 Speaker 2: They created this was brand new. No one had ever 341 00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:09,159 Speaker 2: created something like the mcast before. It wasn't like they 342 00:18:09,240 --> 00:18:12,280 Speaker 2: took an existing software and just kind of redesigned it. 343 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:15,880 Speaker 2: They made new software to do a brand new thing 344 00:18:15,960 --> 00:18:18,920 Speaker 2: that hadn't been done before. And then they didn't tell 345 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:22,320 Speaker 2: anyone about it. And again, just want to reiterate, the 346 00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:25,280 Speaker 2: MCAST took over the controls from the pilot. If you 347 00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:28,560 Speaker 2: were the pilot, you were no longer in control of 348 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:31,400 Speaker 2: the plane while the MCAST was bringing the nose back 349 00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:34,879 Speaker 2: down to a more suitable angle of attack. Imagine that 350 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:37,919 Speaker 2: happening and you having no idea what's going on because 351 00:18:37,960 --> 00:18:39,600 Speaker 2: you don't know the MCAST exists. 352 00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:42,800 Speaker 1: Yeah, and all of this is because they don't want 353 00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:45,600 Speaker 1: to make the again, make the plane less appealing to 354 00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:48,480 Speaker 1: buyers to airlines because they're gonna have to invest a 355 00:18:48,520 --> 00:18:51,199 Speaker 1: lot of money in like pilot retraining and even as 356 00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:54,399 Speaker 1: simple things as like you know, flight manuals and stuff 357 00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:57,320 Speaker 1: like that. Yeah, supposedly, I mean, it was reported at 358 00:18:57,400 --> 00:19:01,040 Speaker 1: least that Boeing made a deal with Southwest Air that said, hey, 359 00:19:01,119 --> 00:19:03,560 Speaker 1: if you buy enough planes from us, and if you 360 00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:06,680 Speaker 1: don't require your special training for the pilots, like save 361 00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:09,320 Speaker 1: yourself some money, we'll give you a discount on these planes. 362 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:14,200 Speaker 1: And Boeing lobbied the FAA, like actively lobbied them to 363 00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:17,960 Speaker 1: allow them not to make any mention of the MCST 364 00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:20,919 Speaker 1: in the manual, like we don't even want this in 365 00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:23,000 Speaker 1: the flight manual, And the FAA said. 366 00:19:22,800 --> 00:19:26,000 Speaker 2: Sure, Yeah, they said, okay, Boeing told them that it 367 00:19:26,040 --> 00:19:29,399 Speaker 2: was such a minor part of an already existing system, 368 00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:32,879 Speaker 2: I think the existing air speed sensor system, that it 369 00:19:32,960 --> 00:19:36,240 Speaker 2: was not worth mentioning, and the FAA, like you said, 370 00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:39,800 Speaker 2: they're like, sure, that's fine. They also didn't even put 371 00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:42,400 Speaker 2: an indicator light for it in there. That's how secret 372 00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:45,399 Speaker 2: they kept this thing, so you would have no idea 373 00:19:45,480 --> 00:19:48,879 Speaker 2: it was on right, So this was like that was 374 00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:52,359 Speaker 2: you might be stunned that the FAA just went along 375 00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:55,640 Speaker 2: with that. It also shows you that they didn't They 376 00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:58,280 Speaker 2: had no idea what the m cast was. They didn't 377 00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:00,560 Speaker 2: go and look and say, well, let us see if 378 00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:04,439 Speaker 2: it's actually important or not tell us what this thing is. 379 00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:07,560 Speaker 2: Later on, FAA officials, some of them would testify they 380 00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:09,879 Speaker 2: didn't get the mcast, they didn't understand what it was, 381 00:20:10,280 --> 00:20:13,440 Speaker 2: and they really were encouraged not to ask too many questions, 382 00:20:13,520 --> 00:20:15,920 Speaker 2: so they just said, sure, if you guys don't think 383 00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:18,320 Speaker 2: that it's worth mentioning, we won't make you. 384 00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:21,919 Speaker 1: Yeah for sure, and you know this is all you know, 385 00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:24,320 Speaker 1: how I mentioned the beginning part of the systemic failures 386 00:20:24,359 --> 00:20:26,600 Speaker 1: of just how things work, So we should talk a 387 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:30,040 Speaker 1: little bit about that. As far as the FAA is concerned, 388 00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:33,359 Speaker 1: because when they were formed in nineteen fifty eight, it 389 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:35,840 Speaker 1: was pretty clear right out of the gate that their 390 00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:40,199 Speaker 1: kind of co mandates could often be in conflict with 391 00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:42,840 Speaker 1: one another, which was to promote the interest of the 392 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:47,600 Speaker 1: aviation industry and very important to promote the safety of 393 00:20:47,640 --> 00:20:50,840 Speaker 1: the flying public. So they knew pretty quickly that like 394 00:20:50,880 --> 00:20:53,480 Speaker 1: those like I said, those don't always align. So Congress 395 00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:56,280 Speaker 1: in I think nineteen sixty seven said, all right, maybe 396 00:20:56,320 --> 00:20:58,760 Speaker 1: we should have a new agency that really guides the 397 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:02,600 Speaker 1: safety side. So they created National Transportation Safety Board, and 398 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:06,440 Speaker 1: they're like, they'll they'll keep everybody safe and recommend regulations 399 00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:10,119 Speaker 1: to the FAA to enforce, but they can't demand that. 400 00:21:10,160 --> 00:21:13,560 Speaker 1: The FAA has never had to do the things that 401 00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:14,760 Speaker 1: they're suggested to do. 402 00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:17,560 Speaker 2: Right, it's just the NTSB is looking out for the 403 00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:20,520 Speaker 2: safety but the FAA doesn't have to enact it because 404 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:24,359 Speaker 2: again that might conflict with the interests of the aviation industry. 405 00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:27,920 Speaker 2: And that stuck out to me, Chuck, that the safety 406 00:21:27,960 --> 00:21:30,879 Speaker 2: of the flying public isn't always in the interests of 407 00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:34,240 Speaker 2: the aviation industry. It should one hundred percent of the 408 00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:39,439 Speaker 2: time be in the interests of the aviation industry. Yeah, 409 00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:41,040 Speaker 2: that's just my take, hot take. 410 00:21:42,240 --> 00:21:45,160 Speaker 1: But what ended up happening was the FAA said, all right, well, 411 00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:47,400 Speaker 1: you know, we're good at the industry stuff, so why 412 00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:49,600 Speaker 1: don't we just let Boeing, like they know planes, why 413 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:53,439 Speaker 1: don't we let them handle their own certification process. And 414 00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:55,680 Speaker 1: it wasn't. I mean, that seems to be sort of 415 00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:58,760 Speaker 1: standard practice. It wasn't like some big exception was made, right. 416 00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:02,400 Speaker 2: Yeah. No, they have a name for it, organizational designation authorization. 417 00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:05,119 Speaker 2: The FAA can say, like you just said, you know 418 00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:07,480 Speaker 2: a lot about what we want and what we require. 419 00:22:07,520 --> 00:22:09,560 Speaker 2: We're just going to let you go through and verify 420 00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:14,280 Speaker 2: that all this stuff adheres to FAA requirements and guidelines, 421 00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:17,680 Speaker 2: and then you come back and tell us if it does. 422 00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:22,240 Speaker 2: You plane maker, certify your own plane and tell us 423 00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:27,359 Speaker 2: if we should certify it in turn. And that's exactly 424 00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:29,399 Speaker 2: what it is. That's that process. 425 00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:32,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, they're like, hey, here's what you do. Just do 426 00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:34,600 Speaker 1: it all, then send me an email that just says 427 00:22:34,640 --> 00:22:35,119 Speaker 1: all good. 428 00:22:35,080 --> 00:22:38,560 Speaker 2: Right, write an email to the president, but like it's 429 00:22:38,600 --> 00:22:40,000 Speaker 2: from me, and then I'll sign it. 430 00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:44,160 Speaker 1: So this is part of a bigger problem that actually 431 00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:48,439 Speaker 1: has a name. It's called regulatory capture, and it's this 432 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:53,920 Speaker 1: idea that when people are working closely together, like the 433 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:58,760 Speaker 1: FAA works closely with the airline industry and Boeing, that 434 00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:01,440 Speaker 1: they know, they know these people, and they end up 435 00:23:02,960 --> 00:23:05,919 Speaker 1: I don't want to necessarily say sighting, but they end 436 00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:11,240 Speaker 1: up more sympathetic to the industry side than the public 437 00:23:11,280 --> 00:23:14,240 Speaker 1: that they're supposed to be protecting because they don't work 438 00:23:14,280 --> 00:23:16,520 Speaker 1: with the public at large every day. They work with 439 00:23:16,560 --> 00:23:17,880 Speaker 1: these people every day exactly. 440 00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:22,280 Speaker 2: That's the same reason why you should avoid ever agreeing 441 00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:27,760 Speaker 2: to mediation instead of a lawsuit, because the mediators typically, 442 00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:30,400 Speaker 2: even though they won't say they do, they will typically 443 00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:33,320 Speaker 2: work for the people paying them, and the chances of 444 00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:38,040 Speaker 2: your company that say you're going into mediation with hiring 445 00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:41,440 Speaker 2: them again are far greater than you ever hiring them. 446 00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:45,639 Speaker 2: It's not exactly the same thing, but it's they have 447 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:49,280 Speaker 2: a working relationship that just can't be avoided, and that 448 00:23:49,440 --> 00:23:52,920 Speaker 2: also is supported by another issue called the revolving door. 449 00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:56,640 Speaker 2: Regulatory capture is very much supported by the revolving door 450 00:23:56,680 --> 00:23:59,959 Speaker 2: and vice versa, which is you are a friendly regulated 451 00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:04,480 Speaker 2: and the company you're regulating later on is like, hey, 452 00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:07,040 Speaker 2: we want to hire you. We think you've done a 453 00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:08,879 Speaker 2: great job, and we want you to come work for 454 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:11,000 Speaker 2: us for gobs of money. And it can go the 455 00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:14,959 Speaker 2: other way too. A friendly colleague can go become a regulator, 456 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:17,639 Speaker 2: and you know, you just kind of expect them to 457 00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:20,760 Speaker 2: turn a blind eye when you need them to. That's 458 00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:23,840 Speaker 2: just a huge problem, especially when you're talking about huge 459 00:24:24,119 --> 00:24:29,359 Speaker 2: like life and death stuff like designing and certifying airplanes 460 00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:33,040 Speaker 2: or you know, pharmaceutical makers and the FDA. They're frequently 461 00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:36,800 Speaker 2: talked about as regulatory capture and a revolving door. 462 00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:41,440 Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean, I'm just a dummy podcaster, so I 463 00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:43,919 Speaker 1: don't know how any of this stuff works. But it 464 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:45,920 Speaker 1: seems to me like there should be like a rule 465 00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:50,240 Speaker 1: or a law that says, you know, choose your path, 466 00:24:50,359 --> 00:24:52,680 Speaker 1: Like you can't go work for the FAA for ten 467 00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:55,239 Speaker 1: years and then go work for Boeing right after that 468 00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:58,720 Speaker 1: with some plumb job or some pharmaceutical company and then 469 00:24:58,760 --> 00:25:01,160 Speaker 1: you go work for the FDA. Like it's just such 470 00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:02,600 Speaker 1: an obvious conflict, you know. 471 00:25:02,720 --> 00:25:04,800 Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't remember if you and I recorded the 472 00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:07,160 Speaker 2: episode on it or not. I feel like we did 473 00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:10,640 Speaker 2: years back. I definitely wrote an article about this, and 474 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:13,600 Speaker 2: people have proposed that over the years. I think three 475 00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:17,119 Speaker 2: years is typically the average, which makes sense, Like a 476 00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:19,800 Speaker 2: lot of people change at a company in three years, 477 00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:23,040 Speaker 2: so that would probably actually do it. But it's just 478 00:25:23,119 --> 00:25:26,080 Speaker 2: like just added to the pile of problems that we 479 00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:29,080 Speaker 2: have to solve to get things on track around here. 480 00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:33,840 Speaker 1: I propose we take a sort of a quicker break 481 00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:37,840 Speaker 1: here than we normally would because we've got the crashes 482 00:25:37,880 --> 00:25:41,800 Speaker 1: coming up. And after that, it's you know, what do 483 00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:42,120 Speaker 1: you think? 484 00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:43,280 Speaker 2: I agree? 485 00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:45,760 Speaker 1: Okay, I'm not quite sure. I was trying to say there, 486 00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:48,400 Speaker 1: but still, we'll be right back and we'll talk about 487 00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:50,399 Speaker 1: what happened with these planes right after this. 488 00:26:07,520 --> 00:26:10,880 Speaker 2: Okay, chuck, So we're back, and we're gonna go back 489 00:26:10,880 --> 00:26:16,119 Speaker 2: to March twenty seventeen, and I guess this month is 490 00:26:16,160 --> 00:26:19,640 Speaker 2: when the FAA certified the seven thirty seven Max eight 491 00:26:20,359 --> 00:26:23,600 Speaker 2: to fly. A few months later, the Max nine was 492 00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:26,840 Speaker 2: certified to fly, and both of these planes, I think 493 00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:29,720 Speaker 2: they were the first seven thirty seven Maxes to hit 494 00:26:29,760 --> 00:26:32,520 Speaker 2: the skies. And one thing you want to point out 495 00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:36,280 Speaker 2: is when the FAA certifies a new plane to fly, 496 00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:43,720 Speaker 2: they and the European the EU Aviation Authority they're basically 497 00:26:44,080 --> 00:26:46,680 Speaker 2: their stamps tell the rest of the world like, these 498 00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:48,960 Speaker 2: planes are fine, you can buy them and fly them, 499 00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:52,040 Speaker 2: you can put them into your airline fleet. Other countries 500 00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:54,480 Speaker 2: have their own aviation authority, sure, but they do not 501 00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:57,560 Speaker 2: have the resources that like the FAA or the EU's 502 00:26:58,359 --> 00:27:02,120 Speaker 2: Aviation Authority have, and so they're relied upon, Like their 503 00:27:02,160 --> 00:27:07,159 Speaker 2: credibility is important worldwide. So this is why. One reason 504 00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:09,560 Speaker 2: also it was such a big deal that the fa 505 00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:11,919 Speaker 2: just completely fell down on the job. 506 00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:16,040 Speaker 1: Yeah, because they're supposed to be the gold standards worldwide, 507 00:27:16,040 --> 00:27:16,520 Speaker 1: like you said. 508 00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:16,679 Speaker 2: So. 509 00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:22,479 Speaker 1: On October twenty ninth, twenty eighteen, Lion Air flight it 510 00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:26,320 Speaker 1: was the seven thirty seven Max eight crashed into the 511 00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:31,879 Speaker 1: Java Sea very shortly after takeoff from Indonesia, and the 512 00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:35,719 Speaker 1: flight crew communicated with air traffic control that basically they 513 00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:38,879 Speaker 1: were having trouble with flight control, they were having trouble 514 00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:42,639 Speaker 1: with their altitude, and then the plane just disappears from radar, 515 00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:46,040 Speaker 1: and I think it was about thirteen minutes later it 516 00:27:46,119 --> 00:27:48,520 Speaker 1: plunged into the Java See at about four hundred miles 517 00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:51,320 Speaker 1: an hour and killed all one hundred and eighty nine 518 00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:51,960 Speaker 1: people on board. 519 00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:55,239 Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, and all of this was I think, like 520 00:27:55,280 --> 00:27:57,439 Speaker 2: you said, thirteen minutes after the plane took off. So 521 00:27:57,480 --> 00:28:00,479 Speaker 2: that angle of attack thing. We know enough now to 522 00:28:00,520 --> 00:28:03,440 Speaker 2: know what was going on. At the time, no one 523 00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:08,760 Speaker 2: had any idea what was going on, and so Boeing said, oh, 524 00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:11,240 Speaker 2: there's this thing called the mcast that we put in. 525 00:28:12,119 --> 00:28:15,000 Speaker 2: Just here's some information about it, and if anything like 526 00:28:15,040 --> 00:28:18,359 Speaker 2: this ever happens to you, here's the procedure to override 527 00:28:18,359 --> 00:28:21,400 Speaker 2: it and you'll be all good. Just it was still 528 00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:24,639 Speaker 2: it was pilot error, everybody. That's that's what the problem was. 529 00:28:24,680 --> 00:28:26,000 Speaker 2: That's what Boeing blamed it on. 530 00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:31,200 Speaker 1: Yeah, so that was crash number one. Then, I guess 531 00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:33,760 Speaker 1: about five months later, in March of twenty nineteen, an 532 00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:39,480 Speaker 1: Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed near at Geer, Ethiopia. This was 533 00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:43,640 Speaker 1: six minutes after takeoff, and all one hundred and fifty 534 00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:46,360 Speaker 1: seven passengers and crew obviously on board, died. 535 00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:49,480 Speaker 2: And that what made that crash even worse, Chuck, is 536 00:28:49,480 --> 00:28:54,000 Speaker 2: that those airline pilots followed that procedure that Boeing had 537 00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:58,800 Speaker 2: told the world about after the Lion airflight a few 538 00:28:58,840 --> 00:29:02,160 Speaker 2: months before, and it still didn't work because there was 539 00:29:02,160 --> 00:29:05,640 Speaker 2: a software glitch with the mcass and it kept reactivating 540 00:29:05,680 --> 00:29:09,200 Speaker 2: and reactivating and they couldn't override it, and that's when 541 00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:13,000 Speaker 2: it crashed. So even with this workaround that Boeing came 542 00:29:13,120 --> 00:29:16,600 Speaker 2: up with, it still wasn't fixing the problem. And after 543 00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:20,720 Speaker 2: that second crash, it was quite clear that Boeing had 544 00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:24,720 Speaker 2: screwed up royally, and also that the FAA had let 545 00:29:24,760 --> 00:29:28,120 Speaker 2: them do that and still certified these planes that were 546 00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:31,160 Speaker 2: way too dangerous to carry human beings. 547 00:29:31,640 --> 00:29:34,440 Speaker 1: Yeah, the whole seven thirty seven Max fleet was grounded 548 00:29:34,440 --> 00:29:37,480 Speaker 1: at that point for twenty months. It was the biggest 549 00:29:38,280 --> 00:29:41,120 Speaker 1: sort of grounding like that in aviation history. It took 550 00:29:41,120 --> 00:29:43,840 Speaker 1: out four hundred and fifty planes from the sky, and 551 00:29:43,960 --> 00:29:46,640 Speaker 1: you know, its sindrils ran all throughout the airline industry, 552 00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:51,680 Speaker 1: like travel stock prices, obviously Southwest. You know I mentioned 553 00:29:51,880 --> 00:29:55,920 Speaker 1: like supposedly having that better deal, they had to ground 554 00:29:56,000 --> 00:30:01,120 Speaker 1: I think thirty of their fifty eight plane stop. 555 00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:01,400 Speaker 2: Yeah. 556 00:30:01,440 --> 00:30:04,680 Speaker 1: Fleet, fleet, that's the word, the fleet with the sticks, 557 00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:07,520 Speaker 1: that's right. I mean, it's clear I'm not an aviator, 558 00:30:07,560 --> 00:30:09,520 Speaker 1: you guys. I'm sure that's not a surprise to anyone, 559 00:30:09,920 --> 00:30:12,600 Speaker 1: but governing bodies really kind of came in quickly. After 560 00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:16,040 Speaker 1: that point, they launched investigations not just into Boeing but 561 00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:19,600 Speaker 1: also into the FAA. And you know, they did the 562 00:30:19,640 --> 00:30:21,720 Speaker 1: thing you do, which you start issuing statements like that 563 00:30:21,760 --> 00:30:25,200 Speaker 1: are really angry, and then there are press releases and 564 00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:29,080 Speaker 1: there are denials, and then CEOs come and go. Obviously, 565 00:30:29,560 --> 00:30:33,560 Speaker 1: lawsuits and at least one criminal charge would come and 566 00:30:34,080 --> 00:30:38,800 Speaker 1: regulatory actions. But while this is going on, there's still 567 00:30:39,280 --> 00:30:41,240 Speaker 1: like problems with this plane. 568 00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:44,920 Speaker 2: Yeah. And the reason they grounded all seven thirty seven 569 00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:48,680 Speaker 2: max is everywhere in the world for twenty months. It 570 00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:50,480 Speaker 2: was supposed to be a very short time, but it 571 00:30:50,520 --> 00:30:52,760 Speaker 2: turned out to be twenty months is because these were 572 00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:55,880 Speaker 2: brand new planes that dropped out of the sky. Remember 573 00:30:55,920 --> 00:30:59,120 Speaker 2: that one in two hundred and thirty two trillion chants 574 00:30:59,120 --> 00:31:03,200 Speaker 2: of the function, this is two. Yeah. The the Lion 575 00:31:03,320 --> 00:31:07,120 Speaker 2: air plane had eight hundred hours of flight time. The 576 00:31:07,200 --> 00:31:10,360 Speaker 2: Ethiopian air had just thirteen hundred and thirty hours. Yeah, 577 00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:13,240 Speaker 2: so this happened two times in just twenty one hundred 578 00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:14,720 Speaker 2: and thirty flight hours. 579 00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:15,320 Speaker 1: Yeah. 580 00:31:15,360 --> 00:31:17,640 Speaker 2: Boy, there's some some Josh Clark matth in there that 581 00:31:17,680 --> 00:31:19,360 Speaker 2: we just edited out, chuck, right. 582 00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:24,080 Speaker 1: So in October twenty eighteen, this is a year after 583 00:31:24,120 --> 00:31:27,400 Speaker 1: that Lion Air crash, the CEO of who I mentioned 584 00:31:27,400 --> 00:31:31,360 Speaker 1: earlier at the time, Dennis Muhlenberg, was called before Congress, 585 00:31:31,640 --> 00:31:33,719 Speaker 1: which is what you do. You got to take your 586 00:31:33,760 --> 00:31:35,520 Speaker 1: lumps and go in there and get yelled at, basically, 587 00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:38,160 Speaker 1: and the whole time he's insisting the plane is safe 588 00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:41,320 Speaker 1: and in that hearing and I remember watching some of 589 00:31:41,320 --> 00:31:47,680 Speaker 1: this stuff. Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal said after that second crash, 590 00:31:47,760 --> 00:31:49,840 Speaker 1: he met with Boeing reps in his office and they 591 00:31:49,840 --> 00:31:52,760 Speaker 1: said what Josh Clark would say one day is that 592 00:31:52,800 --> 00:31:57,040 Speaker 1: it was pilot air, which like, that's just complete fabrication. 593 00:31:57,200 --> 00:32:01,320 Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean they yeah, it's just so scummy, you know, 594 00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:04,560 Speaker 2: to be that responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people, 595 00:32:04,920 --> 00:32:08,440 Speaker 2: terrible deaths, and then just to blame two people who 596 00:32:08,440 --> 00:32:11,280 Speaker 2: are for people I guess who are blameless, and that's 597 00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:15,160 Speaker 2: just I just think that's terrible. And you might say, well, okay, 598 00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:17,600 Speaker 2: what's wrong with Muhlenberg. He was the one who inherited 599 00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:21,480 Speaker 2: the problem. He's to blame because he didn't ground that 600 00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:25,560 Speaker 2: the seven thirty seven maxes. The FAA made Boeing do that, 601 00:32:25,960 --> 00:32:27,680 Speaker 2: so he had the option to do this. He had 602 00:32:27,720 --> 00:32:29,200 Speaker 2: the opportunity to and he didn't. 603 00:32:29,760 --> 00:32:33,520 Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure. You know, obviously the FAA, we've been 604 00:32:33,680 --> 00:32:36,200 Speaker 1: pretty hard on here, and they were found responsible for 605 00:32:36,280 --> 00:32:39,640 Speaker 1: good reason. There was a twenty twenty congressional report that 606 00:32:39,760 --> 00:32:44,360 Speaker 1: said Boeing in the FAA jointly were responsible for these 607 00:32:44,360 --> 00:32:47,760 Speaker 1: two plane crashes. And the FAA this whole time is 608 00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:50,760 Speaker 1: insisting that it did the right thing. It's like, we, 609 00:32:51,840 --> 00:32:53,640 Speaker 1: you know, did everything like we were supposed to as 610 00:32:53,680 --> 00:32:58,360 Speaker 1: far as certification goes, but it seems to be a 611 00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:02,040 Speaker 1: systemic thing where and stepped forward before this and said, 612 00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:05,960 Speaker 1: you can't allow them to certify themselves because they may 613 00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:08,000 Speaker 1: have been telling the truth when they said they follow 614 00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:10,080 Speaker 1: a procedure, but the procedure was wrong exactly. 615 00:33:10,320 --> 00:33:14,400 Speaker 2: Yeah. So when that report came out, the shares of 616 00:33:14,440 --> 00:33:19,760 Speaker 2: bow of Boeing plummeted as far as fines go and 617 00:33:19,960 --> 00:33:23,680 Speaker 2: actual money that they had to shell out from this. Yeah, 618 00:33:23,800 --> 00:33:27,320 Speaker 2: that FA fined Boeing seventeen million dollars in twenty twenty one, 619 00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:33,360 Speaker 2: seventeen million with an m yeah, for using unapproved or 620 00:33:33,440 --> 00:33:37,160 Speaker 2: non conforming parts or mislabeling the parts. Neither of these 621 00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:40,360 Speaker 2: those things had anything to do with the crashes. So 622 00:33:40,520 --> 00:33:44,680 Speaker 2: Boeing was never fined for those two crashes by the FAA. 623 00:33:45,640 --> 00:33:47,600 Speaker 1: Yeah, was that just them trying to be like, hey, 624 00:33:47,680 --> 00:33:50,120 Speaker 1: let's slap them with something so the public sees that 625 00:33:50,240 --> 00:33:50,920 Speaker 1: had like that's. 626 00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:56,120 Speaker 2: My interpretation, Yes, And that's the the little pussy cat 627 00:33:57,000 --> 00:34:01,240 Speaker 2: bite that they came up with, right, Is that a thing? 628 00:34:01,560 --> 00:34:02,480 Speaker 1: Wow? Sure. 629 00:34:02,960 --> 00:34:05,360 Speaker 2: The other thing is is the FAA didn't start issuing 630 00:34:05,360 --> 00:34:08,960 Speaker 2: penalties like that until the Justice Department filed suit against 631 00:34:09,040 --> 00:34:14,680 Speaker 2: Boeing for defrauding the United States government by saying this 632 00:34:14,760 --> 00:34:18,360 Speaker 2: thing is fine, you can go ahead and certify at FAA. 633 00:34:18,920 --> 00:34:22,239 Speaker 2: And there was actually a criminal misconduct facet to the 634 00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:25,879 Speaker 2: whole thing as well. And I think Boeing negotiated a 635 00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:30,399 Speaker 2: two point five billion dollar payment are fine to the 636 00:34:30,520 --> 00:34:33,759 Speaker 2: United States to basically say like, just here, make this 637 00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:36,799 Speaker 2: go away. Here's some money. They also had to pay 638 00:34:36,840 --> 00:34:40,160 Speaker 2: eight point three billion dollars to the airlines and then 639 00:34:40,440 --> 00:34:44,040 Speaker 2: man the victims families all I think three hundred and 640 00:34:44,080 --> 00:34:47,719 Speaker 2: forty five victims families. There was one hundred million dollar 641 00:34:47,880 --> 00:34:51,480 Speaker 2: pot set aside for them as part of this negotiated 642 00:34:52,120 --> 00:34:55,960 Speaker 2: agreement with the Justice Department. That's the thing that I 643 00:34:56,000 --> 00:34:58,000 Speaker 2: saw though. When I was looking that up, chuck on 644 00:34:59,480 --> 00:35:03,080 Speaker 2: like like a Google search or whatever. Yeah, the reporting 645 00:35:03,080 --> 00:35:06,799 Speaker 2: on it said that Boeing is dedicating one hundred million 646 00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:09,840 Speaker 2: dollars to victims. Families Almost across the board, all of 647 00:35:09,840 --> 00:35:12,960 Speaker 2: the rere like they weren't forced to. It's disgusting because 648 00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:15,800 Speaker 2: it also shows that all of these outlets were basically 649 00:35:15,880 --> 00:35:17,960 Speaker 2: just copying the Boeing press release. 650 00:35:18,400 --> 00:35:22,240 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, for sure, you did mention a criminal charge. 651 00:35:22,280 --> 00:35:26,360 Speaker 1: There was one. There was one individual that faced criminal charges. 652 00:35:26,719 --> 00:35:29,840 Speaker 1: It was a former lead technical pilot named Mark Forlkner, 653 00:35:30,600 --> 00:35:34,920 Speaker 1: and he is the guy who convinced the FAA that 654 00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:38,680 Speaker 1: the MCST was not something worthy of including in the 655 00:35:38,680 --> 00:35:41,560 Speaker 1: flight manual. I think it was exposed later on in 656 00:35:41,560 --> 00:35:45,400 Speaker 1: internal emails. He was frustrated about mcast in the email 657 00:35:45,800 --> 00:35:48,239 Speaker 1: and he said, quote I basically lied to the FAA 658 00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:52,560 Speaker 1: end quote. And he was found not guilty of defrauding 659 00:35:52,640 --> 00:35:56,800 Speaker 1: federal regulators. And that was that was the only person 660 00:35:56,840 --> 00:35:58,560 Speaker 1: to be brought up on criminal charges. 661 00:35:58,680 --> 00:36:02,399 Speaker 2: Yeah. After that, the JAY said, Okay, we're closing this case. 662 00:36:02,440 --> 00:36:06,840 Speaker 2: It's done. As you can imagine, the families of the 663 00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:10,920 Speaker 2: victims were not at all happy with any of this. Yeah, 664 00:36:10,920 --> 00:36:14,120 Speaker 2: so the whole thing put to rest. Everybody's moving on. 665 00:36:15,480 --> 00:36:18,360 Speaker 2: This is what was that twenty twenty one, I think 666 00:36:18,560 --> 00:36:22,480 Speaker 2: when that whole thing got settled. Yeah, And then three 667 00:36:22,560 --> 00:36:26,280 Speaker 2: years later, less than three years later, there was another 668 00:36:26,640 --> 00:36:30,720 Speaker 2: catastrophic incident with another Boeing seven thirty seven Max. 669 00:36:31,960 --> 00:36:34,239 Speaker 1: Yeah. And I remember when this one happened, after all 670 00:36:34,239 --> 00:36:37,120 Speaker 1: the other stuff, it was just like what is because 671 00:36:37,600 --> 00:36:39,520 Speaker 1: I mean, I feel like there was this weird certain 672 00:36:39,560 --> 00:36:43,120 Speaker 1: amount of national pride with Boeing even at one point, 673 00:36:43,160 --> 00:36:45,880 Speaker 1: like I remember growing up hearing about like Boeing, like 674 00:36:45,920 --> 00:36:49,520 Speaker 1: this great company of engineers, like these brilliant people. And 675 00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:51,600 Speaker 1: then by the time this happened in twenty twenty four, 676 00:36:52,719 --> 00:36:54,480 Speaker 1: I'm not even in like a plane head, and I 677 00:36:54,560 --> 00:36:56,960 Speaker 1: was like, what is happening with this like once great company? 678 00:36:57,560 --> 00:37:02,760 Speaker 1: And that's when Alaska Airlines flight depressurized rapidly at sixteen 679 00:37:02,800 --> 00:37:06,239 Speaker 1: thousand feet because a door plug blew out and there 680 00:37:06,280 --> 00:37:07,680 Speaker 1: was a hole in the side of the plane. 681 00:37:07,719 --> 00:37:10,520 Speaker 2: Yeah. Door plug is essentially a panel that covers an 682 00:37:10,680 --> 00:37:16,240 Speaker 2: unused emergency exit, and that panel came off, blew off, 683 00:37:16,680 --> 00:37:20,560 Speaker 2: and just by total luck or the grace of God, 684 00:37:20,600 --> 00:37:23,640 Speaker 2: depending on your view, of what's going on behind the universe. 685 00:37:25,360 --> 00:37:28,760 Speaker 2: There was nobody seated right there. Yeah, And the reason 686 00:37:28,800 --> 00:37:31,560 Speaker 2: why this was lucky is because parts of the seats 687 00:37:31,600 --> 00:37:34,720 Speaker 2: were sucked out, and there would be a good chance 688 00:37:34,800 --> 00:37:37,080 Speaker 2: that a human sitting in one of those seats would 689 00:37:37,120 --> 00:37:40,640 Speaker 2: have been sucked out. At sixteen thousand feet, it's mind 690 00:37:40,680 --> 00:37:44,880 Speaker 2: boggling that nobody was killed or I think seriously injured. 691 00:37:44,920 --> 00:37:47,520 Speaker 2: Even than that. It's just it was it could have 692 00:37:47,600 --> 00:37:52,080 Speaker 2: been so bad and lucky for Boeing it wasn't. 693 00:37:52,800 --> 00:37:56,760 Speaker 1: Yeah. Initial reports intigated that they couldn't find the bolts 694 00:37:57,239 --> 00:37:59,319 Speaker 1: that were to hold that plug in place, and then 695 00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:02,560 Speaker 1: apparently there were signs that they never maybe there were 696 00:38:02,600 --> 00:38:05,040 Speaker 1: never bolts in place to begin with, and that a 697 00:38:05,080 --> 00:38:09,120 Speaker 1: Boeing worker removed that door plug for some routine maintenance 698 00:38:09,360 --> 00:38:12,040 Speaker 1: didn't put the bolts back in. At this point, the 699 00:38:12,120 --> 00:38:15,960 Speaker 1: FAA is like, all right, this can't you know? This 700 00:38:16,000 --> 00:38:18,360 Speaker 1: is such a public thing. After the disaster of the 701 00:38:18,360 --> 00:38:22,760 Speaker 1: two crashes, they grounded the planes again. They said, quote, 702 00:38:22,760 --> 00:38:25,120 Speaker 1: this should never have happened and it cannot happen again. 703 00:38:26,160 --> 00:38:30,560 Speaker 1: And when they did follow up investigations, it, I mean, 704 00:38:30,640 --> 00:38:32,960 Speaker 1: it seemed kind of like a clown show going on 705 00:38:33,680 --> 00:38:36,759 Speaker 1: at Spirit Aero Systems that like the factory where these 706 00:38:36,800 --> 00:38:37,799 Speaker 1: things were being put together. 707 00:38:37,840 --> 00:38:40,840 Speaker 2: One of their suppliers, Yeah, this was not good a 708 00:38:40,880 --> 00:38:44,600 Speaker 2: good look. There were assemblers who were in charge of 709 00:38:44,640 --> 00:38:48,799 Speaker 2: putting plane stuff together. They were jump up and down 710 00:38:48,840 --> 00:38:51,239 Speaker 2: on airplane parts and like kick it into place to 711 00:38:51,280 --> 00:38:53,640 Speaker 2: make the drill holes line up the way that they 712 00:38:53,680 --> 00:38:57,240 Speaker 2: should a part like that for something like an airplane, 713 00:38:57,239 --> 00:38:59,680 Speaker 2: and the Boeing of yesteryear would have immediately been sent 714 00:38:59,719 --> 00:39:02,200 Speaker 2: back and supplier would have been sweating that they were 715 00:39:02,239 --> 00:39:05,399 Speaker 2: going to get dropped for somebody else. That's not the case, 716 00:39:05,520 --> 00:39:08,360 Speaker 2: or that certainly wasn't the case with their vendor. Spirit. 717 00:39:09,760 --> 00:39:11,920 Speaker 2: There were other problems that also came up with the 718 00:39:12,000 --> 00:39:15,520 Speaker 2: Max too that were didn't even have anything to do 719 00:39:15,600 --> 00:39:20,319 Speaker 2: with the mcast, but were still both potentially catastrophic themselves. 720 00:39:21,440 --> 00:39:24,479 Speaker 1: Yeah, there was an air pressure sensor that seems pretty 721 00:39:24,520 --> 00:39:27,359 Speaker 1: vital to me as a nonpilot that would ensure that 722 00:39:27,760 --> 00:39:31,040 Speaker 1: pilots had enough air to not lose consciousness. I guess 723 00:39:30,840 --> 00:39:32,279 Speaker 1: in the event of something better, it. 724 00:39:32,239 --> 00:39:34,480 Speaker 2: Should be important to you as a passenger. 725 00:39:33,960 --> 00:39:37,400 Speaker 1: Too, Yeah, it is. They also found loose bolts in 726 00:39:37,400 --> 00:39:42,240 Speaker 1: the rudder system. And by this point, like it's pretty 727 00:39:42,280 --> 00:39:46,439 Speaker 1: obvious that the FAA was complicit and this whole sort 728 00:39:46,480 --> 00:39:49,480 Speaker 1: of shoddy operation going down with the seven thirty seven Max. 729 00:39:51,239 --> 00:39:55,000 Speaker 1: They were non compliant with FAA regulations. And if the 730 00:39:55,080 --> 00:39:58,759 Speaker 1: FAA's saying they don't know about that, then that's on there. 731 00:39:58,960 --> 00:40:03,040 Speaker 2: There was no argument or justification that FAA could put 732 00:40:03,080 --> 00:40:06,480 Speaker 2: forward that exonerated them in even a little bit, you know. 733 00:40:07,160 --> 00:40:10,839 Speaker 1: Yeah, And here's the thing. Before that door plug blew out, 734 00:40:11,600 --> 00:40:14,879 Speaker 1: just before that, the FAA had gone to Congress and said, hey, 735 00:40:15,239 --> 00:40:16,719 Speaker 1: I think it's all good now, can we go back 736 00:40:16,760 --> 00:40:20,520 Speaker 1: to letting Boeing certify their own planes? And then after 737 00:40:20,560 --> 00:40:23,800 Speaker 1: that door blowout they or plug blowout, they withdrew that request. 738 00:40:24,080 --> 00:40:28,320 Speaker 2: And this is the last CEO, Dave Calhoun. The reason 739 00:40:28,680 --> 00:40:31,200 Speaker 2: he was a problem or an issue as well is 740 00:40:31,200 --> 00:40:35,040 Speaker 2: because he didn't change Boeing enough for this door plug 741 00:40:35,080 --> 00:40:38,919 Speaker 2: incident to not happen. So there was there were two 742 00:40:39,000 --> 00:40:43,719 Speaker 2: high profile whistleblower deaths. Thirty two people came forward to 743 00:40:43,800 --> 00:40:50,000 Speaker 2: seek whistleblower federal protection to complain against Boeing. Two of 744 00:40:50,040 --> 00:40:54,479 Speaker 2: them died, and it turns out both of them died well, 745 00:40:54,760 --> 00:40:58,920 Speaker 2: one died by suicide, another one died of MRSA, so 746 00:40:58,960 --> 00:41:03,080 Speaker 2: I guess natural disease. But the guy who died by suicide, 747 00:41:03,080 --> 00:41:05,239 Speaker 2: of course, there was a conspiracy theory that he was 748 00:41:05,280 --> 00:41:09,400 Speaker 2: actually murraid. He had just given a deposition in Charleston 749 00:41:09,520 --> 00:41:12,239 Speaker 2: when he was found dead of a gunshot wound in 750 00:41:12,280 --> 00:41:14,880 Speaker 2: his truck in a holiday in parking lot where he 751 00:41:14,960 --> 00:41:20,120 Speaker 2: was staying after giving that deposition. And apparently there's all 752 00:41:20,160 --> 00:41:24,359 Speaker 2: sorts of evidence, including CCTV or security camera footage that 753 00:41:24,400 --> 00:41:28,040 Speaker 2: show that this was suicide. The point is that doesn't 754 00:41:28,360 --> 00:41:31,960 Speaker 2: exonerate Boeing in his suicide note, he actually named Boeing 755 00:41:32,440 --> 00:41:35,360 Speaker 2: as a huge reason for this, because they ruined his life. 756 00:41:35,400 --> 00:41:38,640 Speaker 1: He said, yeah, he requested to be buried face down 757 00:41:38,719 --> 00:41:40,440 Speaker 1: so they could quote kiss his ass. 758 00:41:40,719 --> 00:41:41,160 Speaker 2: Yeah. 759 00:41:41,239 --> 00:41:45,799 Speaker 1: So uh yeah, it very very sad obviously. So they 760 00:41:45,800 --> 00:41:49,920 Speaker 1: are identifying all these issues with the seven thirty seven MAX. 761 00:41:50,000 --> 00:41:54,440 Speaker 1: The most scathing stuff obviously would come from the NTSB 762 00:41:54,640 --> 00:41:58,360 Speaker 1: because their separate from the AAA, and they basically have 763 00:41:58,480 --> 00:42:03,360 Speaker 1: taken to bypassing the FAA by issuing their own safety 764 00:42:03,400 --> 00:42:06,400 Speaker 1: notices directly and not like going through them. Yeah, and 765 00:42:06,600 --> 00:42:09,719 Speaker 1: I think in June twenty twenty five. Just last year, 766 00:42:10,320 --> 00:42:13,360 Speaker 1: they issued a bulletin of a possible engine problem on 767 00:42:13,400 --> 00:42:14,640 Speaker 1: the seven thirty seven Max. 768 00:42:15,040 --> 00:42:19,359 Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, I feel like airlines should should alert you. 769 00:42:19,520 --> 00:42:21,400 Speaker 2: I know they're not going to, but I feel like 770 00:42:21,440 --> 00:42:24,400 Speaker 2: they should give you a choice, like this is a 771 00:42:24,400 --> 00:42:25,680 Speaker 2: seven thirty seven Max. 772 00:42:25,760 --> 00:42:28,480 Speaker 1: Well you can see what plane it is like when 773 00:42:28,480 --> 00:42:29,240 Speaker 1: you book the flight. 774 00:42:29,480 --> 00:42:31,600 Speaker 2: Yeah, that they switch them sometimes too. 775 00:42:32,120 --> 00:42:35,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm gonna start looking though, man, after this, Oh. 776 00:42:34,880 --> 00:42:37,319 Speaker 2: I do, I do. I don't think I've ever been 777 00:42:37,360 --> 00:42:39,680 Speaker 2: on board a Max, but I feel like it's just 778 00:42:39,719 --> 00:42:41,440 Speaker 2: the roll of the dice every time, you know. 779 00:42:42,120 --> 00:42:45,560 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, yeah, It's something I'm paying a lot 780 00:42:45,560 --> 00:42:46,840 Speaker 1: more attention to now. Obviously. 781 00:42:47,640 --> 00:42:51,720 Speaker 2: We also can't not mention another thing that happened after 782 00:42:52,080 --> 00:42:57,239 Speaker 2: the Alaska Airline blowout that had nothing to do with 783 00:42:57,320 --> 00:43:01,640 Speaker 2: their airline division or airplane division, but still was Boeing 784 00:43:01,680 --> 00:43:04,560 Speaker 2: and it was a terrible look. It was an aerospace thing. 785 00:43:05,640 --> 00:43:09,040 Speaker 2: When the star Liner test flight to the ISS did 786 00:43:09,040 --> 00:43:10,120 Speaker 2: not go very well. 787 00:43:10,640 --> 00:43:13,200 Speaker 1: Yeah, they, I mean, there were a lot of failures there. 788 00:43:13,560 --> 00:43:14,880 Speaker 1: We're not going to get into all of them, but 789 00:43:14,920 --> 00:43:17,840 Speaker 1: it was a test flight carrying a couple of astronauts 790 00:43:17,880 --> 00:43:21,520 Speaker 1: to the ISS and they ended up stuck there. I 791 00:43:21,600 --> 00:43:23,400 Speaker 1: think it was supposed to be a little more than 792 00:43:23,400 --> 00:43:26,400 Speaker 1: a week and it turned into nine months and SpaceX 793 00:43:26,440 --> 00:43:27,640 Speaker 1: had to go get them. 794 00:43:28,320 --> 00:43:31,799 Speaker 2: It's just not a good look, right, it's not. I mean, 795 00:43:31,880 --> 00:43:35,040 Speaker 2: luckily Wilmore and Williams, the two astronauts made it back 796 00:43:35,040 --> 00:43:39,920 Speaker 2: to Earth safely, and the star Liner uncrude remotely controlled 797 00:43:39,960 --> 00:43:43,480 Speaker 2: made it back to Earth safely. But still it's just 798 00:43:43,719 --> 00:43:46,319 Speaker 2: like your stock price goes down every time. And the 799 00:43:46,320 --> 00:43:48,440 Speaker 2: reason I mentioned it is because every step of the 800 00:43:48,480 --> 00:43:51,799 Speaker 2: way with the seven thirty seven Max, all of it 801 00:43:51,880 --> 00:43:56,320 Speaker 2: followed that like psychopathic corporate logic, where the shareholder's return 802 00:43:56,360 --> 00:43:59,440 Speaker 2: on investment is the most important thing. It is more 803 00:43:59,480 --> 00:44:06,520 Speaker 2: important in morality, safety, practicality, sensibility, anything, right. And so 804 00:44:06,640 --> 00:44:12,520 Speaker 2: the whole like sad trombone like twist, I guess is 805 00:44:12,560 --> 00:44:17,240 Speaker 2: that the seven thirty seven Max cost Boeing investors eighty 806 00:44:17,320 --> 00:44:21,440 Speaker 2: seven billion dollars right over the six years from twenty 807 00:44:21,520 --> 00:44:24,120 Speaker 2: eighteen to twenty twenty four. It didn't make them money. 808 00:44:24,400 --> 00:44:28,440 Speaker 2: It cost them money in share price drops over and 809 00:44:28,480 --> 00:44:32,040 Speaker 2: over and over again, because one thing after another just 810 00:44:32,120 --> 00:44:35,200 Speaker 2: kept going and Airbus was eating Boeing's lunch all of 811 00:44:35,239 --> 00:44:36,120 Speaker 2: these years too. 812 00:44:36,600 --> 00:44:39,239 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a I mean there's a lesson in there. 813 00:44:40,239 --> 00:44:43,640 Speaker 1: No one will heat it, of course, but there's a lesson. 814 00:44:43,960 --> 00:44:46,839 Speaker 2: Yes there is, Chuck, You got anything else? 815 00:44:47,080 --> 00:44:49,279 Speaker 1: I got nothing else. I mean, they're they're still out there, right, 816 00:44:49,320 --> 00:44:50,600 Speaker 1: the seven thirty seven Max. 817 00:44:51,400 --> 00:44:54,200 Speaker 2: Yeah, they got recertified by the FAA. I think the 818 00:44:54,280 --> 00:44:57,480 Speaker 2: last one was towed out of groundage. I don't know 819 00:44:57,520 --> 00:45:00,480 Speaker 2: if that's the word or not the union saying. And 820 00:45:00,760 --> 00:45:04,320 Speaker 2: it was declared ready for delivery to China on August 821 00:45:04,360 --> 00:45:07,719 Speaker 2: twenty ninth, twenty twenty five. So there is a very 822 00:45:07,760 --> 00:45:10,319 Speaker 2: good chance that you will fly on a seven thirty 823 00:45:10,360 --> 00:45:12,160 Speaker 2: seven Max at some point in your life if you 824 00:45:12,239 --> 00:45:12,799 Speaker 2: fly a lot. 825 00:45:13,080 --> 00:45:13,279 Speaker 1: Yeah. 826 00:45:15,040 --> 00:45:17,200 Speaker 2: Oh, and also just real quick, they also have the 827 00:45:17,280 --> 00:45:19,520 Speaker 2: Max seven and the Max nine are the newest ones, 828 00:45:19,600 --> 00:45:22,880 Speaker 2: and they're having trouble getting those certified because they're having 829 00:45:23,160 --> 00:45:26,279 Speaker 2: an issue that they are can't figure out how to 830 00:45:26,360 --> 00:45:28,040 Speaker 2: fix yet. Yeah. 831 00:45:29,080 --> 00:45:32,239 Speaker 1: Software is a great thing. So I'm not bagging on 832 00:45:32,400 --> 00:45:35,200 Speaker 1: the software industry, but like, I have a car that 833 00:45:35,280 --> 00:45:38,480 Speaker 1: has like a lot of newer cars are like very 834 00:45:38,560 --> 00:45:41,120 Speaker 1: software based, as a lot of people know. Yeah, and 835 00:45:41,239 --> 00:45:42,520 Speaker 1: sometimes it'll just do something. 836 00:45:42,920 --> 00:45:45,040 Speaker 2: Yeah, we had our brick once. 837 00:45:45,840 --> 00:45:48,359 Speaker 1: Yeah, it happens. I've seen it happen in my own car, 838 00:45:48,520 --> 00:45:51,520 Speaker 1: and like, that's not a plane with hundreds of passengers, 839 00:45:51,560 --> 00:45:52,000 Speaker 1: you know, No. 840 00:45:52,320 --> 00:45:54,719 Speaker 2: No, thankfully we were parked and couldn't get it back on. 841 00:45:54,880 --> 00:45:57,680 Speaker 2: But yeah, I can't imagine how terrifying that would be 842 00:45:57,760 --> 00:46:00,200 Speaker 2: if if it happened while you were driving, you know. Yeah, 843 00:46:01,160 --> 00:46:03,520 Speaker 2: we should also say talking about software, it was widely 844 00:46:03,600 --> 00:46:07,920 Speaker 2: reported that Boeing had hired had outsourced their software coding 845 00:46:08,000 --> 00:46:11,840 Speaker 2: to Indian companies to curry favor with India so they 846 00:46:11,880 --> 00:46:15,520 Speaker 2: could sell more jets there. That's true. I think they 847 00:46:15,560 --> 00:46:19,000 Speaker 2: were recent college graduates who were being paid nine dollars 848 00:46:19,080 --> 00:46:22,280 Speaker 2: an hour, who were entrusted with very important software stuff. 849 00:46:22,320 --> 00:46:25,600 Speaker 2: But none of them worked on the mcast, right, which 850 00:46:25,719 --> 00:46:27,560 Speaker 2: was the thing that caused those two crashes. 851 00:46:27,600 --> 00:46:28,200 Speaker 1: Obvious, that's right. 852 00:46:29,680 --> 00:46:32,080 Speaker 2: I think that's it for the seven thirty seven. Max. 853 00:46:33,560 --> 00:46:35,680 Speaker 2: I got to dedicate this one to my dad because 854 00:46:35,680 --> 00:46:38,920 Speaker 2: he's the one who gave me my interest in engineering, 855 00:46:38,960 --> 00:46:40,920 Speaker 2: because he was an engineer. 856 00:46:40,600 --> 00:46:42,239 Speaker 1: All these yehes, I knew that that's great. 857 00:46:42,640 --> 00:46:44,480 Speaker 2: Well, since Chuck said that was great that I just 858 00:46:44,560 --> 00:46:47,600 Speaker 2: dedicated this episode to my dad as foretold in two 859 00:46:47,600 --> 00:46:50,520 Speaker 2: thousand and eight. We just opened listener mail here in 860 00:46:50,600 --> 00:46:51,480 Speaker 2: twenty twenty six. 861 00:46:54,280 --> 00:46:56,680 Speaker 1: All right, this is from Alexa from Seattle. It's a 862 00:46:56,960 --> 00:46:59,200 Speaker 1: short and suitet. Hey, guys, just wanted to add to 863 00:46:59,280 --> 00:47:02,680 Speaker 1: the topic of the cherry blossom trees. And I remember 864 00:47:02,960 --> 00:47:04,879 Speaker 1: when we recorded this, I was like, I know, there's 865 00:47:04,920 --> 00:47:07,560 Speaker 1: some places that are known for their cherry blossoms that 866 00:47:07,600 --> 00:47:10,719 Speaker 1: were not going to mention, and luckily Alexa wrote in 867 00:47:11,560 --> 00:47:14,320 Speaker 1: Seattle loves their cherry blossoms, guys. The quad at you 868 00:47:14,480 --> 00:47:17,920 Speaker 1: Dub is probably the most popular spot for cherry blossom viewing, 869 00:47:17,960 --> 00:47:20,239 Speaker 1: and it's always packed with people. All over the city. 870 00:47:20,239 --> 00:47:23,120 Speaker 1: You'll find cherry blossoms blooming and events themed around the 871 00:47:23,239 --> 00:47:28,080 Speaker 1: cherry blossoms, including food items and anime conventions. Nice cherry 872 00:47:28,080 --> 00:47:30,640 Speaker 1: blossoms bloom in the spring when we get random breaks 873 00:47:30,640 --> 00:47:34,640 Speaker 1: from the bleak winter weather, and it's absolutely beautiful. And Alexa, 874 00:47:34,719 --> 00:47:38,160 Speaker 1: I can confirm, but I think my first two trips 875 00:47:38,200 --> 00:47:40,759 Speaker 1: to Seattle were in spring and I got like the 876 00:47:40,960 --> 00:47:43,759 Speaker 1: best weather, and I think I saw cherry blossoms and 877 00:47:43,880 --> 00:47:46,560 Speaker 1: I was like, what's the deal with this place being gloomy? 878 00:47:46,640 --> 00:47:47,880 Speaker 1: Like this place is incredible. 879 00:47:48,120 --> 00:47:50,799 Speaker 2: I remember that too. I think we've done at least five, 880 00:47:51,000 --> 00:47:53,800 Speaker 2: maybe six shows there over the years, and this past 881 00:47:53,840 --> 00:47:56,520 Speaker 2: one in January was the first time I ever rained 882 00:47:56,560 --> 00:47:57,560 Speaker 2: while I was in Seattle. 883 00:47:57,800 --> 00:48:01,040 Speaker 1: Yeah, we got big time seatle on this last trip 884 00:48:01,400 --> 00:48:01,719 Speaker 1: we did. 885 00:48:01,960 --> 00:48:05,040 Speaker 2: We did that was smart to choose a Seattle one 886 00:48:05,080 --> 00:48:07,239 Speaker 2: because that's where Boeing's from, so that fits this one 887 00:48:07,440 --> 00:48:08,000 Speaker 2: very nicely. 888 00:48:08,440 --> 00:48:08,960 Speaker 1: Fantastic. 889 00:48:10,080 --> 00:48:16,000 Speaker 2: That was from Alexa. That's right, Alexa, send email no thanks, Alexa, 890 00:48:16,120 --> 00:48:18,239 Speaker 2: Oh my god. If you want to be like if 891 00:48:18,280 --> 00:48:20,200 Speaker 2: you want to be like Alexa and send us an 892 00:48:20,239 --> 00:48:22,480 Speaker 2: email and have us thank you like you're a robot, 893 00:48:22,719 --> 00:48:25,200 Speaker 2: we will do that. All you have to do is 894 00:48:25,239 --> 00:48:29,719 Speaker 2: send your email off to stuff podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. 895 00:48:34,040 --> 00:48:36,880 Speaker 1: Stuff you Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For 896 00:48:37,040 --> 00:48:41,160 Speaker 1: more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 897 00:48:41,320 --> 00:48:43,160 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.