Ethiopian gives Boeing vote of confidence after fatal crash with delivery of new 737 MAX

Ethiopian Airlines (Ethiopian), the second of two carriers involved in fatal Boeing 737 MAX crashes which led to the jet’s worldwide grounding, has taken delivery of a brand-new 737 MAX. The Ethiopian accident in March 2019 resulted in the death of all 157 passengers and crew on board and followed the October 2018 crash of a Lion Air 737 MAX which crashed, killing all 198 people on board. Both accidents were attributed to a faulty sensor which erroneously and fatally triggered the onboard MCAS flight control system which forced both planes into a dive, despite pilots’ unsuccessful efforts to maintain altitude.

The delivery of the jet to Ethiopian was one of 43 737 MAXs Boeing delivered in June, it’s best month to date since the grounding order was lifted, while the American planemaker delivered 51 jets in total in June, it’s best month since March 2019. This year Boeing has delivered 181 of the 737 MAX jets, up from 105 for the first quarter of 2021. Commenting on news of the delivery of this new 737 MAX, Robert Clifford, an attorney for families of the crash victims said: “This is really disappointing — a sad reminder for the crash victims’ families nearly three-and-a-half years later, knowing that the Boeing MAX will be flying again even in Ethiopia, where the crash happened.”

While increased deliveries of the 737 MAX are a boost for Boeing, the company still has problems with its 787 wide-body passenger plane, deliveries of which have been halted owing to quality control issues since May 2021.