Embattled aviation giant Boeing pledged Wednesday to do all it can to prevent crashes like the two that killed nearly 350 people in recent months, as it unveiled a fix to the flight software of its grounded 737 MAX aircraft.
Boeing gathered hundreds of pilots and reporters to unveil the changes to the MCAS stall prevention system, which has been implicated in the tragedies in Ethiopia and Indonesia, as part of a charm offensive to restore the company's reputation.
"We are going to do everything to make sure that accidents like this don't happen again," Mike Sinnett, Boeing's vice president of product strategy, told reporters at a factory in Washington state.
Meanwhile, across the country in the nation's capital, the head of the US air safety agency faced harsh questions from senators over its relationship with and oversight of Boeing.
Dan Elwell, the acting head of the Federal Aviation Administration, defended his agency but acknowledged that as systems become more complex, the FAA's "oversight approach needs to evolve."
Sinnett said it will take only about an hour to install the updates and they can begin as soon as regulators authorize the changes, which were developed "after months of testing and hundreds of hours."
A Boeing official meanwhile said there was no need to revamp a regulatory process that has "continued to lead to safer and safer airplanes."
At a separate hearing, Chao said she was "concerned about any allegations of coziness with any company," but noted that allowing Boeing to handle some of its own safety certifications was necessary because the FAA "can't do it on their own."
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