Boeing workers criticized US regulator and "buffoons" who designed the plane

A Boeing 737 Max on the Renton tarmac in Washington State in December. Ted S. Warren / AP

Boeing forwarded internal documents to American lawmakers in December, including communications in which employees disparage the American Air Operator (FAA) and boast that they can certify the 737 MAX with minimal training for pilots.

The messages include exchanges between Boeing test pilots who report problems with flight simulators that reproduce real flight conditions, said the aircraft manufacturer.

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"I still haven't been forgiven by God for what I hid last year", wrote one of these employees in a 2018 message, with reference to interactions with the regulator. "I know, but the regulator only gets what it deserves after trying to interfere in our business. It slows progress "wrote another in August 2015. "This plane is designed by buffoons, who in turn are supervised by monkeys"said another in a 2017 post, appearing to be about the FAA.

"Would you put your family in a MAX simulator? No I will not ", said an employee to a colleague in another exchange. " No ", the latter also answers him.

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Puzzle for Boeing

These messages, consulted by the AFP, were revealed by American parliamentarians who are investigating the homologation procedure for the 737 MAX, in which two close accidents killed 346 people. "Some of these communications relate to the development and qualification of Boeing 737 MAX simulators in 2017 and 2018"reacted Boeing, adding that they had transmitted them to parliamentarians for the sake of "Transparency".

The harsh tone of exchanges addressed to parliamentarians is a new headache for Boeing and risks further complicating already strained relations with the FAA, supposed to lift the ban on the 737 MAX, nailed to the ground since March 13 through the world. The MCAS anti-stall system has been questioned and Boeing is currently working on modifications required by the FAA.

In late December, managing director Dennis Muilenburg was landed by the board of directors due to tensions with the FAA. He was replaced by David Calhoun, a former executive at General Electric (GE), who takes up his new position on Monday.

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