Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg has apologized to the families of the 346 people killed in two plane crashes that led to 737 Max jets being grounded worldwide. “I do personally apologize to the families,” Muilenburg told CBS Evening News. “As I’ve mentioned earlier, we feel terrible about these accidents, and we apologize for what happened. We are sorry for the loss of lives in both accidents... We are sorry for the impact to the families and the loved ones that are behind—and that will never change, that will always be with us. I can tell you it affects me directly as a leader of this company, it’s very difficult.” Investigators are examining the crashes—Lion Air Flight 610 in October 2018 that killed all 189 people on board, and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in March that killed all 157 people on board—and the role of an automated system in the Max model, which was originally designed to help prevent the plane from stalling. New reports suggest Boeing may have been warned by at least one Ethiopian Airlines pilot to bolster 737 training after the Lion Air crash and before the second fatal incident. Boeing has said its flight-control software update is now ready and awaiting an OK from the Federal Aviation Administration. The company recently admitted that a previously undisclosed software problem prevented key safety alerts from flashing.
