Internal Boeing Messages Say 737 Max ‘Designed by Clowns’
- Company pilot told colleague that jet was ‘designed by clowns’
- Planemaker apologizes as pressure rises before new CEO’s start
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Boeing Co. employees expressed alarm with the 737 Max and the flight simulators used to train pilots on the new jetliner while also mocking senior managers and regulators, in a trove of messages released by the manufacturer late Thursday.
“This airplane is designed by clowns, who in turn are supervised by monkeys,” said one company pilot in messages to a colleague in 2016. The company provided the documents in December to lawmakers and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, who are investigating the 737 Max and the process that cleared it to fly.