Flying Blind: The 737 MAX Tragedy and the Fall of Boeing

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars | 1,615 ratings

Price: 15.75

Last update: 07-19-2024


Top reviews from the United States

R. Huntington
5.0 out of 5 stars Author did a great job telling the sad story.
Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2024
It's a must read, really, if you fly at all. My take away is I think corporate greed and out ethics is level 10 in America, but Boeing and the FAA really found a new bottom. I'll pay more if I have to, to avoid Boeing planes, and I always fly with a foreign airline if I go international. I'm looking forward to Chinas launch of their planes currently under development because if a Chinese CEO were to do what Boeing management did, they would get prison and lose the ill gotten gains. China is going in the right direction with tackling corruption. China based Cathay Pacific owns some Boeing planes. China regulators were THE FIRST to ground the Boeing death jets. Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenberg walked away with 62 million. China was the last to unground the 737s. China is impressive. So now in 2015, China unveiled the C919 prototype to much fanfare, literally rolling out the red carpet. The first completed C919 was delivered to China Eastern Airlines early 2023..
I look forward to flying on a China built airliner where I know the management will be under rule of law.
E. L Wagner
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and informative read
Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2022
The focus of the book was interesting, covering the early days of commercial aviation and the development and success of Boeing's iconic aircraft before moving on to the catastrophic change in corporate culture that ensued when the company merged with McDonnell-Douglas.

The idea that companies should be run by CEOs who have little love or knowledge of the company's products has become widespread, and that the focus should be on being "investor friendly" in the short term instead of visionary or sustainable in the long term is widespread, of course, and is behind the erosion of worker's rights and customer service across most industries (and may well be both a result and facilitator of many of society's current ills). The approach is particularly problematic when a company makes aircraft, however, and more and more of the budget goes into buying back stocks to raise their value, rather than research and development, recruiting and retaining the best possible workforce (and listening to the concerns of engineering staff and pilots, quality control, and customer service.

The connection between this emerging corporate culture and the two deadly crashes of 737-Max 8 aircraft was delineated very clearly in the narrative. Also explored were changes in the FAA following the so-called Reagan Revolution to reduce the scope of government agencies.

Overall, the writing was much better than in many works of non fiction. There was a reasonable balance between personal stories of the people involved in Boeing and the historical context and technical information. The narrative did get a little "flowery" at times when describing some of the characters involved, but that was only mildly distracting most of the times.

The book ended rather more abruptly than I expected, but that's better than feeling that it dragged on for too long. I'd say it's an educational, interesting read and appears to be well researched.
Mike Mannix
5.0 out of 5 stars A very well written, very well researched book, on a complex and disturbing series of events
Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2021
This is a very well written, very well researched book, on a complex and disturbing series of events.

Will Boeing change for the better as a result of the 737 MAX tragedy? Not unless Boeing can once again make excellent engineering be its top priority. And not unless Boeing can find a way to attract and to retain the best people, at all levels, and provide its people with the tools, the resources, and the work environment to consistently do a great job.

While this was a great and attention-grabbing book, well worth reading by anyone who works for Boeing, holds stock in the company, or is ever a passenger on a commercial airplane, it would have made the book even better if the author would have found a way to describe a few days in the life of (anonymous) Boeing employees.

If I were the author, I would have addressed the crowded, noisy, distracting work environment, where engineers and software developers struggle to concentrate on the myriad details while working in a real-life Dilbert cartoon in densely packed cubicle farms.

I would have also addressed some of the "Lazy B" culture, in which some deadbeat employees leave work at 10:45 AM every day, and their utter lack of any commitment to the job goes undetected by managers for a year.

These two examples are based upon my years of personal observations at Boeing, and it would have been interesting to read about them in this well-researched book to confirm or deny that what I saw were not isolated cases.

I would also have liked to see some discussion of whether the aerodynamic properties of the 737 MAX remain the same, because of the location of the engines, far forward on the wing. If these aerodynamic properties still prevail, then won't the plane still have a tendency to pitch upwards to a degree such that there is a risk of a stall? And how is that going to be dealt with?

As I am writing this, it was just reported in the Seattle newspapers that Boeing has sold its extensive Boeing Commercial Airplane division headquarters buildings located at the former site of the Longacres racetrack. The author mentioned in the book that such a sale was likely to take place, and now it has.

I hope that, as a result of the 737 MAX experience, Boeing can change for the better, and this book should be required reading by those in upper management or on the board of directors. Boeing had a lot going for it, and it can turn things around, but will it?
Willem Visser
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating read
Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2024
I really enjoyed reading the book. There are so many lessons here for all of us, it is worth studying and ensuring we all learn from this.

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