The 737 Max is/was unsafe because an electronic system was used to hide an aerodynamic "bodge".
They wanted to fit larger, more powerful and yet more efficient engines to compete with the new Airbus "Neo" family.
The original 737 design required it had built in air stairs, this led to a short undercarriage that left plenty of room for the engines.
Later versions had flat bottomed engine nacelles with limited ground clearance.
But for the max it simply wasn't possible to fit the engines where they were designed to fit.
So some genus thought "no problem, we can move the forward a bit, so the fat bit is forward of the wing"....
Result... they fitted....BUT the consequence was a massive trim change with changes in engine power. Not a problem, but it would mean a lot of re-training of pilots, which is expensive and means not all 737 pilots can fly the MAX.
Oh dear, all Airbus pilots can fly ANY twin engined Airbus and airlines like this.
So how do we get over this? It is going to be expensive.
No problem, thought another genius, we can use software to provide automatic stability based on the existing auto trim system: great said the bosses...
Still not really a problem...
But the software was badly coded/engineered and not well integrated, there was no redundancy as is found in an Airbus AND PILOTS DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS THERE...
The FAA had delegated approval process for "MINOR SYSTEM CHANGES" to Boeing.
When it went wrong, as there was no built in redundancy, nd the pilots hadn't a clue and the software crashed the planes.
So, greed..yes.
Fear of the Competition = short cuts..yes
Emasculation of FAA Oversight.... Blame Trump.
