- Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg is appearing before the House Committee on
Transportation Wednesday, a day after a grilling in front of the Senate Commerce Committee during which he faced questions about the grounded 737 Max plane. - It was his first public testimony since two 737 Max crashes killed 346 people. The crashes were caused by a faulty automated system, MCAS, that Boeing installed on the planes.
- We'll be covering the House hearing live; refresh this page for updates.
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Following a day of criticism and pointed questions from senators on the Commerce Committee, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg is returning to Capitol Hill to appear in front of the House Committee on Transportation.
Tuesday's Senate appearance was his first public testimony since the two jets crashed in October 2018 and in March. Each flight crashed within minutes of taking off. A combined 346 people were killed. Both crashes have been attributed to an automated system known as MCAS, or Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System.
The system, which was designed to compensate for the fact that the Max had larger engines than previous versions of the 737, could be triggered by a single faulty angle-of-attack sensor. When it activated erroneously, it could point the jet's nose down toward the ground, potentially causing it to crash.
Senators focused on questions about what Boeing knew before the crashes, and how the FAA allowed the plane to be certified. There was also a focus on internal messages between Boeing employees discussing issues with MCAS.
According to Rep. Peter DeFazio, the chairman of the transportation committee, Boeing wanted to wait for the hearing until the plane was recertified and resumed flying, but the committee did not want to wait. He also said, during his opening, that leaving MCAS out of the pilots' manual was unacceptable.
"I've talked to a lot of pissed off pilots," he said.
Check back here for live updates from today's House hearing.
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