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Families of Passengers Killed in Boeing Crash Protest in DC

Associated Press

   Families of the passengers who died in one of the Boeing 737 Max
   crashes lobbied Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao on Tuesday to slow
   what they consider a rush to let the plane fly again.

   Two of the relatives who took part in the two-hour meeting in
   Washington said Chao promised that the government will take as long as
   necessary to ensure that the plane is safe but stopped short of
   agreeing to an entirely new, top-to-bottom review.

   A spokesman for Chao said the department and the Federal Aviation
   Administration have taken unprecedented steps to understand the
   accidents and the FAA's certification of the plane in 2017. One of
   those steps, he said, included Chao's appointment of a special
   committee to review the FAA's process of certifying planes.

   After the meeting, several dozen relatives held a vigil on the steps of
   the Transportation Department headquarters to mark the six-month
   anniversary of the crash of Ethiopian Airlines flight 302.

   They carried pictures of many of the 157 people who died. Another 189
   died in the October 2018 crash of a Max jet operated by Indonesia's
   Lion Air.

   Boeing delivers 18 planes

   Separately, Boeing disclosed Tuesday that it delivered just 18
   airliners in August, putting the company on pace for its worst showing
   since 2013. With Max deliveries halted since March, Boeing gave
   customers 276 planes through August, down from 481 in the same period
   last year.

   Chicago-based Boeing has said it expects FAA approval for the Max to
   fly again early in the fourth quarter. U.S. airlines don't expect to
   use the plane until at least December, and the wait could be longer in
   other countries because of signs that international regulators will
   take a slower approach than FAA.

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