The crash of two Boeing planes and the ensuing fallout has been a major public black eye for the aviation giant, and now new details are starting to emerge about how the company dropped the ball. At Fault Faulty autopilot software was likely the cause of the two 737 Max crashes. Overall, it seems that the F.A.A. was far too deferential to Boeing, reportedly treating them like “a client” and acquiescing to decisions the company made based on their budget and deadlines, instead of overseeing them more strictly. Boeing also never submitted the autopilot software MCAS for formal F.A.A. review, after the company began using it to fly the 737 Max, so the F.A.A. was unaware about its flaws. Hits The Fan Boeing is considering temporarily halting production of the popular 737 Max model. This, in addition to the extended grounding of the planes, is hurting not only hurting Boeing’s bottom line but airlines as well, many of whom have been pushing for compensation for lost earnings. Michael O’Leary, CEO of the budget airline Ryanair, is worried that if Boeing doesn’t get the model working again, he might have to cut jobs, as he is not getting the amount of planes he was expecting and it’s hurting his bottom line. “It may well move to 20, it could move to 10, and it could well move to zero if Boeing don’t get their s--- together pretty quickly with the regulator,” O’Leary reportedly said on an earnings call. Turn Ons Boeing is not the only company with worrisome autopilot software, as airlines using certain models of Airbus’s A350 software have been told that they have to power down the software every 149 hours or risk “...partial or total loss of some avionics systems or functions.” Airbus is Boeing’s sole competitor. Note: This post has been updated and corrected. Boeing has not announced an official decision to halt production on the 737 Max, as the post suggested. Instead, the company has said it's considering a temporary shutdown on production. -Michael Tedder Photo via Adobe