Through intellectual rigor and experiential learning, this full-time, two-year MBA program develops leaders who make a difference in the world.
Leaders for Global Operations
Earn your MBA and SM in engineering with this transformative two-year program.
Master of Finance
A rigorous, hands-on program that prepares adaptive problem solvers for premier finance careers.
Master of Business Analytics
A 12-month program focused on applying the tools of modern data science, optimization and machine learning to solve real-world business problems.
Master of Science in Management Studies
Combine an international MBA with a deep dive into management science. A special opportunity for partner and affiliate schools only.
A doctoral program that produces outstanding scholars who are leading in their fields of research.
Undergraduate
Bring a business perspective to your technical and quantitative expertise with a bachelor’s degree in management, business analytics, or finance.
MBA Early (Deferred admissions option)
Apply now and work for two to five years. We'll save you a seat in our MBA class when you're ready to come back to campus for your degree.
MIT Executive MBA
The 20-month program teaches the science of management to mid-career leaders who want to move from success to significance.
MIT Sloan Fellows MBA
A full-time MBA program for mid-career leaders eager to dedicate one year of discovery for a lifetime of impact.
System Design & Management
A joint program for mid-career professionals that integrates engineering and systems thinking. Earn your master’s degree in engineering and management.
Executive Education
Non-degree programs for senior executives and high-potential managers.
Visiting Fellows
A non-degree, customizable program for mid-career professionals.
Abstract
On October 29, 2018, Indonesia’s Lion Air flight 610, a nearly new Boeing 737 MAX 8 jet, plunged into the Java Sea at 400 miles per hour, killing all 189 people on board. Eight days later Boeing issued a bulletin to all 737 MAX 8 and 737 MAX 9 operators stating that “erroneous angle-of-attack data” could result in “uncommanded nose-down movement of the aircraft and that this action can repeat until the related system is deactivated.” The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) followed by issuing an Emergency Airworthiness Directive requiring Boeing to revise the operating procedures in its flight manual for 737 MAX aircraft, including the new Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), software designed to prevent the aircraft from stalling by automatically pushing the nose of the plane down it detected a high angle of attack. Boeing promised the software would be fixed in a few weeks, but by March 2019 the revisions were still not completed. Then, on March 10, Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 from Addis Ababa to Nairobi, Kenya, the same model 737 MAX 8, crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all 157 on board.
Under pressure from Indonesia and Ethiopia, airlines, pilots, the public—and the families of the 346 dead—the President of the United States ordered the grounding of all 737 MAX aircraft on March 13, 2019. Other nations followed suit, grounding Boeing’s best selling plane worldwide for 21 months. Hundreds of MAX 8 orders were canceled, Boeing suffered billions in losses, the CEO was replaced, and multiple civil and criminal investigations were launched. Evidence soon showed that the company’s own engineers and test pilots had known about the MCAS problem well before the crashes, but that knowledge was not shared with the FAA, airlines, or pilots.
Learning Objectives
This case explores the causes of and responses to the accidents, from multiple perspectives, from the design of the MAX 8 and MCAS software to Boeing’s corporate culture to government oversight. Questions to consider include:
What role did company engineers play in causing the two catastrophes? What about their managers? Their test pilots?
What role did Boeing’s CEO, board, and other senior leaders play in shaping the processes, procedures, and corporate culture that may have set the stage for the disasters?
Why were the problems with MCAS covered up?
Why didn’t the F.A.A. detect the flaws in the design before allowing the 737 MAX 8 to enter service?
How could future disasters be prevented?
And what of the families of the 346 victims?
Appropriate for the Following Course(s)
operations management, industrial engineering, computer science, product design, organizational behavior, corporate strategy, public policy, government regulation, and ethics
Boeing's 737 MAX 8 Disasters
