When the FAA grounded all of the Boeing 737 Max airliners back in March, it seemed a bit overdue, but definitely looked like the right move. With two of them having crashed under very similar circumstances and pilots reporting dangerous anomalies during takeoff, it was too much of a risk to keep flying them. Since the problem had allegedly been narrowed down to a software issue, it also sounded like it could be cleared up quickly and get everyone back on schedule.

Turns out that’s not the case. They can’t be too close to a resolution because Boeing just announced that they are suspending production of the craft after the end of the year. (NBC News)

Boeing is suspending the production of its troubled 737 Max airplanes next month, NBC News has confirmed.

The planes were involved in two separate crashes that killed 346 people.

“Safely returning the 737 MAX to service is our top priority,” Boeing said in a statement Monday evening. “As we have previously said, the FAA and global regulatory authorities determine the timeline for certification and return to service. We remain fully committed to supporting this process.”

If your mind operates anywhere near the same way as mine, your first question might have been to ask how they waited so long. As it turns out, the planes weren’t flying, but they still had orders on the books and they’ve produced 400 more of them since then. Suspicions have been raised that people in the Boeing assembly plants knew there were problems (or at least had enough data in hand that they should have known) but it was all swept under the rug.

One former manager at their main production facility in Washington state claimed that he had reported the problems with the software months before the first plane went down, but nothing was done about it. He described a “factory in chaos” because of the high demand for the planes and constant workload.

If any of this turns out to be true, Boeing has bigger problems than some faulty code. Much like the aftermath of the Challenger shuttle disaster, this is turning into a comprehensive investigation of all the people involved, all of the production records and will likely include testimony from potential whistleblowers. If there were people who knew of the potentially fatal flaw but were kept silent for fear of losing their jobs, then this turns from a series of unfortunate accidents to a conspiracy.

And if that’s how this all plays out, Boeing will be paying a hefty price to the families of the victims in those crashes. Beyond that, if it’s a serious enough offense, people could wind up going to jail. But that doesn’t answer the big question. Can the 737 Max series ever be made conclusively safe enough to return them to service? Some airlines still don’t have enough planes to cover all of their routes and have been forced to lease other models of jets from smaller companies. If Boeing can’t get the fleet back up in the air safely, their competitors are going to be seeing a bonanza.