October 29, 2019 | 1:54pm | Updated October 29, 2019 | 9:13pm
Dennis Muilenburg (right) and John Hamilton (left) sit in front of people holding pictures of their loved ones who died in Boeing crashes, before testifying before a US Senate hearing. EPA
More than a dozen heartbroken relatives of Boeing 737 MAX crash victims confronted the company’s CEO during his Capitol Hill testimony Tuesday, in search of one simple gesture: an apology.
Grim-faced family members held up giant photos of their lost loved ones from the gallery behind Dennis Muilenburg, who was addressing the Senate Commerce Committee about the crashes of two jets that left hundreds dead — and the model grounded amid a search for the cause.
“I wanted to let you know, on behalf of myself and all of the men and women of Boeing, how deeply sorry I am,” Muilenburg said in an opening statement addressed to members of the committee. “We made mistakes and got some things wrong.”
But as Muilenburg was leaving the chamber for the day, after more than two hours of testimony, the mother of one victim demanded he direct his sympathy to the families.
“Mr. Muilenburg, turn and look at people when you say you’re sorry,” snapped Nadia Milleron, the mother of Samya Stumo, killed in the March crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302.
Muilenburg turned to face the grieving mom, looked her in the eye and said two words: “I’m sorry.”
The confrontation came to a head a year to the day after the first of two tragedies to befall the 737 MAX.
On Oct. 29, 2018, Lion Air Flight 610 plummeted into the Java Sea off Indonesia just 13 minutes into its flight from Jakarta to Pangkal Pinang.
All 189 aboard — 181 passengers and eight crew — were lost in the first crash of a 737 MAX since the model came into service in May 2017.
Less than five months later, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 spiraled from the sky six minutes after takeoff on March 10, en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi, Kenya, killing 157 people.
Though Boeing had suggested that pilot error was to blame, issues with the model’s MCAS flight-control software have been implicated in the crashes, leading the model to be grounded around the globe.
“Both of these accidents were entirely preventable,” thundered Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), the Commerce Committee’s chair, during an exchange with Muilenburg.
It was Wicker who invited the contingent of victims’ relatives to rise with the photos of the departed, as Muilenburg turned in his chair to look at them.
Members of the panel on both sides of the aisle excoriated Muilenburg over MCAS, the use of which was not covered in Boeing flight manuals and training despite key differences from guidance systems used on previous 737 models.
“As I watched those loved ones stand . . . my anger has only grown,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). “Those pilots never had a chance. These loved ones never had a chance.
“They were in flying coffins as a result of Boeing deciding that it was going to conceal MCAS from the pilots.”
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) agreed, telling the CEO of the Chicago-based Boeing, “You set those pilots up for failure.
“Boeing has not told the whole truth to this committee and to the families and to the people looking at this,” said a visibly angry Duckworth, pointing to the relatives looking on over Muilenburg’s shoulder. “These families are suffering because of it.”
The Federal Aviation Administration also came under fire on Tuesday, assailed for allowing Boeing to avoid adding new crew alerts because of the cost — and for its years-running practice of allowing Boeing employees to perform some inspections and certification tests on its own aircraft.
“It wouldn’t have happened if FAA would have been doing their job,” fumed Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) to Muilenburg. “It also wouldn’t have happened if you had known what the hell was going on.
“I would walk before I would get on a 737 MAX.”
At least for the time being, it’s not a choice Tester or anyone else has to make.
American and Canadian airlines have canceled MAX flights until at least January, and European regulators have said that the earliest test flights aren’t scheduled to begin until mid-December.
With the 737 MAX out of commission, airlines have been forced to cancel flights, scale back routes and use older models in order to accommodate passengers.
Boeing last week turned over for FAA approval its “final software load” with added layers of fail-safes to the 737 MAX’s software.
Assuming the revamped software passes muster with the FAA, the 737 MAX will eventually be put to the test with a certification test flight, from which point the body will decide whether or not to clear the model to resume flights in the US.
Muilenburg is scheduled to appear on Capitol Hill again Wednesday, this time before a House committee.
With Post Wires