It Can't Happen Again?

Yet more agita for the Boeing folks. Turns out that the 737 has more problems. The reporting, alas, is wrong on at least one point:

Leading edge slats are an aerodynamic control surface that extend from the front of the wing. Some the tracks may not meet manufacturing standards and may need to be replaced, Boeing and the FAA said. They said if the parts are found to be defective, airlines should replace them before returning the planes to service.
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The faulty parts could fail prematurely or crack. The FAA said a part failure would not bring down a plane, it could damage an aircraft while in flight.

While strictly speaking, hopefully, true, at least one 737 has burned to the ground due to a compromised slat track mechanism. "Air Disasters" had an episode, bolstered with amateur footage of the burning of the plane. Boeing and FAA seem to be still in bed together. A puncture at flight level wouldn't (with 99.9999% confidence) cause the fire, due to dissipation of fuel. On the other hand, fuel loss could be fatal. And, of course, the China Air incident occurred after engine shutdown on the tarmac. The broken part caused the tank rupture as the slat retracted while taxiing to the terminal.

Still, a tad too cavalier? Yet again? Nobody needed to know about MCAS, now did they?

For some time, there have been stories that the Boeing/McDonnell merger was more like a coup by McDonnell suits. Here's one take

For me, the biggest change came with the McDonnell Douglas merger. All the processes and procedures that we had as a heritage Boeing Company were slowly changing and becoming the McDonnell Douglas process or the McDonnell Douglas procedure.

I felt it was wrong. I felt it was going to take the company in the wrong direction. I thought that quality would suffer and the integrity of the product would suffer. Anybody I know that's a heritage Boeing employee has said the same kind of things.

Some times, Social Darwinism is the wrong way to go. The main purpose, at least internally, for having a Damn Gummint is to enforce payment, up front, for externalities. In other words: if we allow corporations to do as they please, post-damage recovery will likely exceed the assets of a corporation and just declare bankruptcy. The Suits have already gotten their moolah, so what do they care? Shareholders and the injured public get the shaft. An ounce of prevention and all that. We don't need no EPA!