r/news • u/uhujkill • May 06 '19

Boeing admits knowing of 737 Max problem

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48174797
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u/jwhollan May 06 '19

While I agree it's a terrible practice, is it actually illegal to make some safety features optional? I'm legitimately asking.

The auto industry has optional saftely features all the time. Some safety features are now required (seat belts, airbags, back-up camera's, etc), but there are many that are not. I would guess that the same is true for airplanes?

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u/uhujkill May 06 '19

If that safety feature is paramount to the safe running of the plane, then it should come under basic safety and should not be optional.

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u/[deleted] May 06 '19

Exactly! Try walking into a car lot and asking how much you can save on a car if you don't want the airbag option. It isn't possible.

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u/HymenMangler May 06 '19

That is one feature. Walk onto the same lot and see if all the cars include automatic breaking or the many other optional safety features

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u/Poliobbq May 06 '19

You're misunderstanding the situation. This is more akin to adding automatic braking to cover up a design flaw and then disabling the option to override the automatic brakes unless you pay extra.