Originally Posted by
DaveReidUK
I don't believe that in this day and age you can run a commercial aircraft programme while simultaneously incorporating "secret stuff" than only a handful of people in the company know about. Many, many people inside (and outside) Boeing will have been involved in the design, implementation and flight testing of MCAS.
The pollution cheat device scandals would seem to suggest otherwise. Auto industry is also highly regulated, and employs a far larger number of people than aircraft manufacturing. Yet they got away with it for a very long time, and the eventual discovery came from outside the companys involved.
Boeing have seen more than their fair share of production, design and supplier scandals - most of which have successfully been kept out of the mainstream media. The same can be said for a large number of other companies in a wide range of industries.
On balance, I'll hazard the proposition that, in general, large corporations are pretty apt at keeping their dirty laundry away from public view.