Washington (AFP)

Boeing's chief executive, Dennis Muilenburg, was seriously mistreated on Tuesday at the Congress, where parliamentarians from both sides have strongly attacked the aircraft manufacturer, accusing him of having passengers of the 737 MAX of Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines travel "flying coffins".

Blue suit and tie on a white shirt, Mr. Muilenburg appeared around 10:00 local (14:00 GMT) before a US Senate committee.

The contrite tone, he was anxious from the first minutes to make amends but this line of defense - and communication - shattered in the first question, bearing on embarrassing messages from Mark Forkner, a former test driver.

In these messages recently revealed by the elected officials, Mr. Forkner uses the universe of the saga "Star Wars" to explain how he intends to convince the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) to certify the software automatic pilot MCAS, involved in both accidents.

"Get ready for breakfast and then try to play a" + Jedi + "trick on those people's brains," Mr. Forkner wrote to one of his colleagues.

- "When were you aware of the existence of these messages of 2016"? an elected representative asks Mr Muilenburg.

- "I was made aware of this message at the beginning of the year, it was part of the messages we collected to respond to the government's inquiry," replied Mr. Muilenburg, his voice low.

- "So it was after the accidents?"

- "I think it was before the second accident".

Behind him, in the square where nearly twenty families of victims took place, they shake their heads.

- "When were you notified of emails about playing a + Jedi + turn to the brain of the regulators?"

- "Senator, I was only recently informed of the details of these emails and messages."

The elected official insists: "Can you give us an idea of ​​the recent?"

- "In the last few weeks when they became public," says the Boeing leader.

On the faces of the families of victims the consternation turns to anger.

In the room, it is a cathedral silence somewhat disturbed by the vibration of a telephone.

When it comes to interviewing Mr. Muilenburg, to comfort families, Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal invites them to stand up and wave the photos of their missing relatives.

Faced with these faces crossed by the pain, Mr. Muilenburg seems moved.

"Boeing came to my office sometime right after the accidents and said that the crashes were due to the pilots' mistakes, the truth is that these pilots never had a chance, their families did not know they were in coffins. flying because Boeing had decided to hide the MCAS from the pilots, "says Blumenthal.

737 MAXs from Lion Air and Ethiopian crashed in less than six months, resulting in 346 fatalities, which led to the grounding of the entire world fleet.

In both cases, the MCAS, supposed to prevent the plane from landing, was implicated. The pilots did not know about it since it was not in the flight manuals.

© 2019 AFP