'If it ain't Boeing, I ain't going'. This is a slogan that has been popular among many patriotic Americans. The slogan dates back several decades and highlights the aircraft maker's significance in the pantheon of American success stories.
If the Boeing 707 began the 'jet age' as a popular means of travel in the late 1950s, the Boeing 737, arguably, took flying to the common man. The Boeing 737, a twin-engine jet primarily meant for short-to-medium routes, first flew in 1967 and remains in production: In 2018, the 10,000th Boeing 737 was delivered, sealing its status as the most-produced passenger jet. The Boeing 737 was also the first to the 5,000 aircraft mark.
In 2018, Boeing claimed a 737 took off or landed every 1.5 seconds and “On average, more than 2,800 737s are in the air at any given time”. In 2006, Flight International reported 541 operators were flying the Boeing 737. This includes both scheduled airlines and charter operators. In addition, the Boeing 737 has also been converted for military use, being used as a platform for an airborne early warning radar and as a anti-submarine warfare system.
However, the Boeing 737 was in the news for the wrong reasons on Monday after a model operated by China Eastern Airlines crashed in Guangxi, killing more than 130 people on board. The crash comes after concerns of design flaws in the Boeing 737 MAX, the new in-production version, which was grounded after fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019. The crashes of the 737 MAX were attributed to defective flight control software that Boeing rectified.
The aircraft that crashed in China was a Boeing 737-800, which is a 'NG' (next-generation) model that preceded the MAX.
According to B737.org, a website that provides technical information on the Boeing 737, there have been a total of 181 incidents that resulted in the loss of a Boeing 737 hull. This figure included five incidents of “hijackings/bombings/missile attacks and 7 ground accidents”. B737.org noted “This gives a 2.3 per cent accident rate or approx 3 per year or one every 2.5 million flight hours. Furthermore, over 40 per cent of occupants survive fatal 737 accidents.”
Another aviation website, airfleets.net, claimed accidents involving the Boeing 737 have resulted in 4,360 fatalities.
Experts have cautioned against equating the crash in China with the problems of the Boeing 737 MAX. “The NG has one of the best safety records among all aircraft, with just 11 fatal accidents out of more than 7,000 planes delivered since 1997,” experts told Bloomberg.
Anthony Brickhouse, associate professor of applied aviation sciences at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, told USA Today “the key difference (between the Boeing 737-800 and the MAX) is the Max is the newer version, the engine is located in a different spot and the Max is more fuel-efficient.”
What may have caused the crash in China
Video footage of the incident in China showed the aircraft nosediving moments before the crash. Brickhouse told USA Today the rate of descent of the aircraft was unusual as the “plane was around 30,000 feet before dropping to around 9,000 feet in under three minutes”.
Aviation expert Josh Verde told USA Today “Systems problems or a failure of some type is typically the only time you would see a plane in that nose down dive of attitude when you're talking about an airliner.”
Previous incidents of systems failure such as software malfunctions or cracks on key components have been attributed to multiple reasons, including inadequate or faulty maintenance practices by operators, poor inspection procedures and inadequate assistance from the manufacturer among many reasons.
How many 737 NGs are flying
Noting that there are around 25,000 passenger aircraft flying currently, The New York Times reported “about 4,200, or 17 percent, are Boeing 737-800 NGs. China is home to nearly 1,200 of those planes, followed by Europe, with nearly 1,000, and the United States, with nearly 800.”
