By Rizal Obanil The past two years were very catastrophic for Boeing as two of their 737 MAX airplanes crashed within a span of five months, killing 346 people. Boeing reported its biggest quarterly loss as the grounding of the 737 MAX drags on results (AFP Photo/STEPHEN BRASHEAR / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) As a result of the deadly plane crashes in March, 2019 the 737 MAX was grounded by the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA). The first crash involving a 737 Max aircraft happened on October 29, 2018. The PK-LQP flight took off from Jakarta, Indonesia on its way to Pangkai Pinang, Indonesia but crashed into the sea only 13 minutes after takeoff. All 189 people, 181 of whom were passengers as well as the six cabin crew members and the two pilots, were killed in the crash. At that time, this first crash involving a 737 MAX was considered the deadliest air accident involving such a variant of Boeing 737 aircraft. As if this wasn’t enough, on March 10, 2019 another 737 MAX aircraft with flight registration ET-AVJ also crashed just six minutes upon takeoff from Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. All 157 people, made up of 149 passengers and 8 crew members perished in the plane crash. Because of this second plane crash, the FAA which earlier declared that the MAX was “safe to fly” reversed their decision and ordered the grounding of the aircraft. After the second plane crash, the US Congress started an investigation on how the aircraft received a certification from FAA. Since the two accidents and the congressional probe, Boeing as of November, 2019, has already lost $10 billion in revenues and compensation expenses to airline companies and the families of the fatalities, as well as litigation expenses for the lawsuits that the company is now facing, according to Wikipedia.