The 737 remains the only large commercial aircraft without an electronic checklist to assist its pilots, who depend on heavy binders laden with step-by-step instructions to guide them in the event of an emergency. At the same time, Boeing has fitfully squeezed in software to guide some aspects of the plane, using two redundant computers with processing power that approximates a 1990s Nintendo gaming console. (Even the space shuttle, originally developed in the 1970s, had five separate computers.) That leaves passengers on the 737, in comparison to planes like the Airbus A320 or Boeing’s own
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