Medan, Indonesia – For Neuis Marfuah, the recent near-disaster involving an Alaska Airlines 737 Max plane brought back painful memories and anger.

Her daughter, 23-year-old Vivian Hasna Afifa, was killed on Lion Air Flight 610 plunged into the Java Sea in Indonesia on October 29, 2018, killing all 189 people on board.

“How could that happen? I can’t stop thinking about it,” Marfuah told Al Jazeera.

On Thursday, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it had approved the return to service of the Boeing 737 Max 9 after more than 170 planes were grounded on January 6, a day after an Alaska Airlines panel Flight 1282 exploded at 14,000 feet with 177 people on board.

The FAA’s “comprehensive” review gave the regulator the confidence to “proceed to the inspection and maintenance phase,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said in a statement outlining “unacceptable” quality assurance issues.

No one was killed or injured in the incident, but for Marfuah the news of the near-disaster was difficult to bear.

“After the events in Indonesia and Ethiopia, it should have been enough to stop operating the Max 737 aircraft once and for all,” Marfuah said.

Less than five months after the Lion Air crash in Indonesia, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed six minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa airport en route to Kenya, killing all 157 people on board.

After the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes, a U.S. Congressional report found that Boeing engaged in a “culture of concealment” and that the 737 Max aircraft “were marred by technical design flaws,” including problems with the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS).

MCAS is a flight stabilization program on newer 737 Max models that is designed to automatically prevent a plane from entering a stall, although this has not been clearly communicated to the pilots flying the planes.

On Lion Air Flight 610, a sensor on the outside of the aircraft malfunctioned and indicated that the nose of the aircraft was too high and the aircraft was in danger of stalling, causing the MCAS to automatically push the aircraft down, to avoid a possible current stall and fall into the sea.

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 also experienced a MCAS malfunction, prompting Boeing to make changes so that it now “operates only in unusual flight conditions and now relies on two sensors, activating only once, and the ability of the “The pilot never overrides the ability to control the aircraft.”

After an investigation into the near miss involving Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, the airline determined that the torn panel had been removed, repaired and reattached by Boeing mechanics.

Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci said in an interview broadcast on NBC News on Wednesday that an internal inspection found that “many” of the 737 Max 9 planes had loose screws.

“In fact, in one section a plane exploded in mid-air,” Dennis Tajer, spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association union and a 737 Max 8 pilot with more than three decades of experience, told Al Jazeera.

“It was an explosive loss of pressure in the aircraft that was all-encompassing and frightening. This has completely shaken the trust in Boeing.”

In the three weeks since the Alaska Airlines incident, Boeing has lost nearly a fifth of its market capitalization.

After meeting with U.S. senators on Wednesday, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun told reporters that the company “does not put any aircraft in the air that we don’t have 100 percent confidence in.”

Anton Sahadi, whose wife lost their two 24-year-old cousins ​​Riyan Aryandi and Ravi Andrian on Lion Air Flight 610, described the recent Boeing 737 Max incident as “sad”.

“As a family member and spokesperson for the victims of the Lion Air plane crash, I was very concerned when I heard the Alaska Airlines news and remembered that 189 people were victims of the Lion Air crash in Indonesia,” Sahadi told Al Jazeera .

Like Tajer, Sahadi said the recent incident had shaken his confidence in Boeing aircraft.

“I have increasing doubts about the 737 Max aircraft and think the aircraft certifier needs to take serious action before they are ready for sale and commercial use,” he said.

“It’s about people’s lives and safety. It should be a serious concern for operators and Boeing passengers.”

In a statement to Al Jazeera on Tuesday, Stan Deal, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said: “We have failed our airline customers and deeply regret the significant disruption to them, their employees and their passengers.”

On Wednesday, Boeing released another statement saying it would “continue to cooperate fully and transparently with the FAA and follow its guidance as we take action to improve safety and quality at Boeing.”

But Tajer, the spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association, said that “confidence in Boeing continues to wane” even though the planes have been cleared to fly.

“This isn’t about everyone waking up, people have been watching Boeing closely for some time and they built a plane based on excuses and executive exceptions,” he said.

After the Alaska Airlines incident, it wasn’t just the 737 Max that was in the spotlight.

On Jan. 18, a Boeing cargo plane made an emergency landing in Florida after its engine caught fire, and on Jan. 20, a nose wheel fell off a Delta Air Lines Boeing 757 plane about to take off from Atlanta International Airport.

“If I had made as many mistakes as Boeing, I wouldn’t have a pilot’s license,” Tajer said.

“We are watching closely and are not happy. We will get through this and keep people safe, but we are being asked to pay for Boeing’s failures. Enough is enough. Design your planes as if lives depended on them, because they do.”