In the wake of the calamitous two 737 Max jets crashes occurring in late 2018 and early 2019, leaving 346 people tragically deceased, the prevailing consensus appears to be that the resulting crisis faced by Boeing Co. was a foreseeable event, with many apparently attempting to preemptively halt its unfolding. A surprising revelation recently came to light, indicating that Boeing’s engineers had initiated cautionary dialogues with their managerial counterparts as far back as 2001, signalling potential quality concerns within their professional purview.
Despite these dire forewarnings, the stark reality is that Boeing executives evidently failed to absorb these crucial signals, or to sufficiently acknowledge their critical importance. The cascading effect of this resultant inertia reverberates in the tragic circumstances of the 737 Max crashes which, alarmingly enough, did not serve as the requisite wake-up call for the company’s executive division.
This tragic situation forms the focal narrative of Sarah Green Carmichael’s article, “Boeing Heard. It Just Didn’t Listen.” The unfolding of events, from the initial alerts issued by Boeing’s engineers nearly two decades ago, to the eventual high-profile aviation disasters and their devastating consequences, epitomizes the detrimental impact of a significant communication breakdown within a large, multinational corporation.
For legal professionals and corporate law practitioners, this case highlights the ever-present need for robust internal communication structures, the importance of properly addressing and acting upon employee concerns, and the potential legal consequences of neglecting these aspects. The Boeing case demonstrates a stark failure of duty of care, alongside potential negligence and corporate liability that large entities could face in similar circumstances.