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00:00Mr. Muhlenberg I have to say the testimony here today has been quite dismaying . I want to focus on the text exchange that has been referred to and it's been publicly reported on . This was a text exchange between Mark Faulkner who was then Boeing's technical pilot for the Mac's chief technical pilot for the max . And Mr. Gustafson who in 2018 was promoted to being Boeing's 737 chief technical pilot. Is that right . If that's the case Senator . So this exchange . Is stunning . Mr. Faulkner Oh shocker alert m cast is now active down to M2 . It's running rampant in the SIM on me . At least that's what Vince thinks is happening Gusta san's response. Oh great. That means we have to update the speed trim description and volume to . Mr. Faulkner so basically I lied to the regulators unknowingly justice and it wasn't a lie . No one told us that was the case . Faulkner I'm leveling off at like 4000 feet 230 knots and the plane is trimming itself like crazy . I'm like what . GUSTAFSON That's what I saw on some one. But on approach I think that's wrong . Faulkner. Granted I suck at flying . But even this was egregious . That exchange . Describes what happened in Lion Air and Ethiopian air . The men and women who are gathered here . With the photos of your loved ones three hundred and forty six people are dead . Because what these chief pilots described as egregious and crazy . That's their language. That's Boeing's internal language in this exchange . Now what I find truly stunning . Boeing handed this exchange over to the Department of Justice in February . In March I chaired a hearing of the aviation subcommittee on these two crashes . Boeing did not see fit . To give this committee that exchange . Nor did Boeing give it to the FAA or the Department of Transportation . But what I find most stunning is your testimony here today that you said you first learned of this exchange a couple of weeks ago . These are senior leaders at Boeing . In an exchange saying and I will quote again . So I basically lied to the regulators . Look I practiced law a lot of years . You had your lawyers look over this document . And they ran a senior leader after these crashes occurred saying they lied to the regulators. Mr. Muhlenberg how in the hell . Did nobody bring this to your attention in February when you produced this the Department of Justice how did you just read this a couple of weeks ago . Senator again to clarify my earlier comments I was made aware of the existence of this kind of document. This issue as part of that discovery process in the investigation early in the year as you pointed out. At that point I had counted on my counsel to handle it appropriately. And did you read this exchange that look I was made aware. Documents were being produced. That that is passive voice and disclaiming responsibility. You're the CEO. The buck stops with you. Did you read this document . And how did your team not put it in front of you run in with their hair on fire . Saying we got a real problem here. How did that not happen and what does that say about the culture at Boeing . If they didn't give it to you and you didn't read it and if you didn't say I want to read and see what happened . Your testimony here earlier today is well we're not sure what they were talking about because he's not at Boeing anymore. How did you not in February set out a nine alarm fire to say we need to figure out exactly what happened. Not after all the hearings not after the pressure but because three hundred forty six people have died and we don't want another person to die . So under as as you mentioned I didn't see the details of this exchange until recently. And we're not quite sure what Mr. Faulkner meant by that exchange . His his lawyer has suggested he was talking about a simulator that was in development in that time period. That's where he was working. That could be the case. We don't know . I fully support diving deep into this and understanding what he said and what he meant . But I can also tell you that in that same timeframe where his original message was made Mr. Gustafson still works at Boeing Corrector. Yes he does. Have you had that conversation with him . Senator my team has talked with Patrick as well. Have you had that conversation with him. Senator I have not .

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'The Buck Stops With You,' Says Sen. Cruz to Boeing CEO

Senator Ted Cruz questions Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg about instant messages released recently in which a senior Boeing pilot told a colleague he’d unknowingly lied to regulators. Muilenburg appeared before the Senate Commerce Committee to talk about the safety of the Boeing 737 Max. (Source: Bloomberg)

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