Why did the world’s leading aircraft manufacturer build a plane programmed to crash itself?

This is the question asked by Netflix’s Downfall: The Case Against Boeing, a ninety-minute investigation into two crashes of Boeing’s brand-new 737 MAX passenger airliners in 2018–19. To summarize: software was installed in the new planes designed to arbitrarily adjust the aircraft’s course in response to easily corrupted intelligence from just one sensor, without informing the pilot. The existence of this Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) was concealed from pilots so that Boeing’s customers wouldn’t have to factor additional pilot training into aircraft costs — resulting in a plane that could undercut competitors and deliver record profits for shareholders.

On October 29, 2018, Lion Air Flight 610 slammed into the Java Sea just thirteen minutes after takeoff, killing all on board. Pilot Bhavye Suneja had fought desperately to keep the plane airborne, unaware that his own systems were fighting back against his every move. Yet Boeing, backed by many in the media and politics, subsequently heaped blame on the pilot and airline in a campaign freighted with racialized stereotyping about airline standards in Global South countries. In fact, Lion Air had pleaded with Boeing for more training on the new aircraft and been mocked in Boeing correspondence for its troubles. Boeing lobbied the US Federal Aviation Administration successfully to avoid grounding the planes, promising a software fix within weeks. Five months later, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 was brought down in the same way, killing all 157 passengers and crew.