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#Boeing mocked Lion Air for requesting extra 737 Max pilot training year before crash. #Bloomberg

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Wednesday, 15 January, 2020, 21:15
#Boeing mocked Lion Air for requesting extra 737 Max pilot training year before crash. #Bloomberg

Boeing employees mocked Lion Air officials and branded them 'idiots' because they wanted extra training for their pilots on the 737 MAX - one year before the fatal crash that killed 189, text messages released by Boeing have revealed.

The damning messages show that Lion Air raised concerns about training and had asked to put its pilots through more simulator training for the 737 MAX.

Plans were then axed in 2017 when Boeing convinced the Indonesian airline that more training was unnecessary, according to Bloomberg News.

One employee wrote in a text message on June 2017: 'Now friggin Lion Air might need a sim to fly the MAX, and maybe because of their own stupidity. I'm scrambling trying to figure out how to unscrew this now! idiots.'

A colleague replied: 'WHAT THE F%%text!!!! But their sister airline is already flying it!'

This is thought to be referencing Malindo Air, which was already commercially flying the aircraft at the time.

The messages - with Lion Air's name un-redacted - were released by House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to Bloomberg News.

Just one year after the damning messages were sent, 189 people lost their lives when a Lion Air 737 MAX flight crashed into the sea off Indonesia. The tragedy has been blamed on a combination of aircraft design flaws, inadequate training and maintenance problems.