New photos published online show dozens of Boeing 737 MAX planes grounded on the tarmac of the South California Logistics Airport located in Victorville, California.
More than 30 aircraft are grounded until at least November – a deadline by which Boeing vowed to finish updating software to repair the flaw that likely led to two deadly plane crashes over the last year, resulting in the global grounding of the model. Each plane costs approximately $121 million, according to the plane maker’s website.
At one point, the MAXes were the best-selling planes for Boeing, the Mail notes, adding that, despite their best efforts, many now believe that the grounded planes will never take to the skies again.
The two crashes, which took place in October 2018 and March 2019, killed 346 people. It is believed that the crashes happened because of software which altered the plane’s angle of attack (angle of the plane’s nose) to compensate for new engines that were too heavy for the older airframe.
The software was dependent on the two angle of attack sensors, but the pilots had no way of knowing whether the sensors were malfunctioning or misaligned. The dedicated warning light was tied to optional displays, which many MAXes, including the two that crashed, did not have.
US President Donald Trump appears to believe Boeing’s claim that it can fix the deadly vulnerability. In April, he took to Twitter suggesting a rebranding the infamous plane.
“If I were Boeing, I would FIX the Boeing 737 MAX, add some additional great features, & REBRAND the plane with a new name,” he tweeted. “No product has suffered like this one. But again, what the hell do I know?”