Boeing is reportedly getting closer to upgrading its automated software for 737 MAX 8 planes

A Boeing 737 Max 8 jet.
(Image credit: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Boeing will reportedly upgrade the stall prevention software on its 737 MAX 8 planes within "the coming weeks," a Boeing spokesperson told Agence France Presse on Friday. The model has been grounded worldwide following the Ethiopian Airlines crash on Sunday, which occurred shortly after takeoff and killed all 157 people on board.

The updating process began after a 737 MAX 8 flown by Lion Air also crashed just minutes after takeoff in Indonesia in October, killing 189. But it has been expedited following the crash in Ethiopia.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.