Boeing CEO pressed for answers on 737 MAX crashes

An aerial photo shows Boeing 737 MAX aircraft at Boeing facilities at the Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake, Washington, September 16, 2019. [REUTERS/Lindsey Wasson]

The head of a US Senate panel reviewing two catastrophic Boeing 737 MAX crashes told Reuters ahead of hearings this week that the plane would not return to US skies until “99.9 per cent of the American public” and policymakers are convinced it is safe.

Boeing Co Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg will testify for two days before Congress starting on Tuesday, which is the anniversary of the Lion Air 737 MAX crash in Indonesia, the first of two crashes within five months that killed a total of 346 people.