Boeing 737 MAX 8 disasters cost insurers $3b

• Published date: 16 January 2023
• Publication title: Nigeria - The Nation

The Boeing 737 MAX 8 operating Lion Air Flight 610 that crashed into the China Sea and 737 MAX 8 that suffered the same fate from Addis Ababa to Nairobi for Ethiopian Airlines has been considered one of the most expensive accidental events in aviation history.

According to Atlas Magazine, with an estimated $3 billion for the insurance part of the case, that is, the losses of the two Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, Boeing's claim to its insurers exceeds the $2.5 billion spent after the September 11, 2001 attacks against the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York.

The bill includes the damages linked to the Ethiopian Airlines accident, which went from $990 million to $2.25 billion, plus $500 million for the losses linked to the interruption of operations of the defective aircrafts.

Although the costs of the Lion Air disaster remain unknown to this day, they are still estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars which would be added to these amounts.

It would be recalled that on October 28, 2018, 13 minutes after takeoff, the Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashed into the China Sea, claiming the lives of 189 people, including 181 passengers and 8 crew members.

The investigation soon revealed a malfunction of the piloting instruments, referring in particular to an incidence sensor, which displayed erroneous values. To correct the system, and prevent the device from stalling, the pilot tried to gain altitude, but the software of the flight control system MCAS (Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System) failed, eventually causing the plane to lose control and crash.

Five months after, on March 10, 2019, another 737 MAX 8 from Addis Ababa to Nairobi for Ethiopian Airlines, crashed six minutes after takeoff, resulting in the death of 157 people, including 149 passengers and eight crew members.

Chronology of events and cost of the incident

Between March 11 and 13, 2019, several countries and airlines affected by the two accidents suspended Boeing 737 MAX flights.

On March 19, 2019, the United States' Department of Transportation (DOT) audited the 737 MAX 8 certification granted to the manufacturer in March 2017.

In the wake of the DOT, the U.S. Congress also probed the certification. For its part, the FBI opened a criminal investigation into the certification.

As a result, 387 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft were grounded for nearly two years, leading to multiple flight cancellations.

As of mid-March 2019, the order backlog for the 737 MAX, the U.S. aircraft manufacturer's flagship...