---
title: "Boeing Finds Even More Issues With Its Troubled 737 Max Plane"
description: "Boeing is investigating whether a wiring oversight in the 737 Max commercial airplane could potentially result in a crash."
date: "2020-01-06"
modified: "2020-01-06"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/boeing-more-issues-737-max"
categories:
  - "Advanced Transport"
  - "Boeing"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "airplane"
  - "boeing"
  - "the digest"
---

# Boeing Finds Even More Issues With Its Troubled 737 Max Plane

![Boeing is investigating whether a wiring oversight in the 737 Max commercial airplane could potentially result in a crash.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/boeing-more-issues-737-max.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Boeing/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Grounded

Aerospace giant Boeing is investigating whether the wiring responsible for controlling the tail of the 737 Max commercial airplane — the same model involved in two deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019 — could result in a wreck, the [*New York Times* reported](<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/05/business/boeing-737-max.html>) on Sunday.

Before this round of bad news, Boeing [grounded](<https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47562727>) hundreds of 737 Max airplanes worldwide in March after two accidents resulted in the deaths of 346 people, prompting a lengthy investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The main culprit was found to be the 737 Max's "enhanced flight control" system that caused the nose of the planes to dip rapidly.

## Nosedive

Boeing engineers told the *Times* that the internal wiring of two critical circuits was too close together, potentially causing a short. But it's still unclear whether the issue could actually end in another catastrophe.

Boeing engineers told the *Times* that the wiring issues were not unique to the Max or to Boeing. Fixing the issue, they said, would only take one to two hours per plane.

"We identified these issues as part of that rigorous process, and we are working with the FAA to perform the appropriate analysis," read a statement Boeing sent to the *Times*. "It would be premature to speculate as to whether this analysis will lead to any design changes."

**READ MORE:** [It’s Not Just Software: New Safety Risks Under Scrutiny on Boeing’s 737 Max](<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/05/business/boeing-737-max.html>) \[*The New York Times*\]

**More on the plane:** *[Boeing to Halt Production of Disaster-Prone 737 MAX Jet](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/boeing-halt-737-max-production>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)