No One to Hold Accountable

In 2011, Boeing executives had two options: spend eight years and $20 billion to build a new aircraft, or spend two years and $4 billion to plug a new engine into an old aircraft and use software to "fix" the flaws. They chose the latter. The software called MCAS only relies on one sensor - it's not that engineers don't know the risks, but "five million dollars is too expensive." The test pilot wrote an email warning that "this is a design that will kill people." The email was suppressed. The regulator secretly wrote "Major safety hazard exists" next to the airworthiness certificate, but signed it anyway. Among the 70,000 pilots in the world, no one knows that there is a "killer" on the plane they fly who can snatch the control stick. 2018, Indonesian Lion Air. MCAS pushed the nose of the machine down, and the captain tried his best to pull the lever, but could not pull the machine. 189 People were killed. 2019, Ethiopian Airlines. Same system, same crash. 157 People were killed. Three hundred and forty-six lives. CEO resigned, taking $62 million. The project leader disappeared with $40 million. This is not a story of technical glitches. This is a reality about how capital kills people, how regulation pretends to sleep, and how no one remains accountable after tragedy.