Together we’ll analyze the horrific details of the tragedy, we’ll go over a brief history of Boeing and we’ll look at similar plane crashes based on the information revealed so far by the investigators. If you like our content, please subscribe to our premium episodes!

We’ll also address a very important issue: mental health in aviation and the stigma surrounding it. Are our pilots and air traffic controllers, the people we entrust with our lives able to get the healthcare they might need without fear of being let go by the airlines? In this context we discuss the Germanwings pilot suicide crash of 2015, the Silk Air pilot suicide crash of 1997, and the Egypt Air pilot suicide crash of 1999. ^{1, 2, 3, 4}

In these cases, captain Tsu Way Ming, first officer Gameel Al-Batouti, and co-pilot Andreas Lubitz intentionally crashed their flights to commit suicide, according to official reports.

We also discuss the MCAS related crashes of Boeing 737-MAX aircraft operated by Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines, and how the company, particularly Dennis Muilenburg the Boeing CEO at the time, repeatedly misled the public about the nature of the crashes and the cause of them.

It is essential to point out that until the investigation into this tragic plane crash of China Eastern Flight 5735 is completed, we won’t have any concrete definitive answers as to what caused it.

In part two of this series we will interview a current international cargo 737 pilot about the technical details of the aircraft and his opinions on the FAA medical procedures and processes, particularly in the context of mental health.