Indonesia Report on 737 MAX Crash Faults Boeing Design, Says Lion Air Made Mistakes

Boeing, acting without adequate oversight from U.S. regulators, failed to grasp risks in the design of cockpit software.

Rescuers use crane to retrieve part of the landing gears of the crashed Lion Air jet from the sea floor in the waters of Tanjung Karawang, Indonesia, on Nov. 4, 2018. Fauzy Chaniago/AP Photo

Boeing, acting without adequate oversight from U.S. regulators, failed to grasp risks in the design of cockpit software on its 737 MAX airliner, sowing the seeds for a Lion Air crash that also involved errors by airline workers and crew, Indonesian investigators found.

The fatal crash, followed within five months by another at Ethiopian Airlines, led to a global grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX and a crisis for the world’s biggest planemaker, which this week ousted its commercial airplanes chief.