File photo taken on June 19, 2017 shows a Boeing 737 MAX 9 at the 52nd International Paris Air and Space Show in Bourget, France. (Xinhua/Chen Yichen)

Boeing provided a fresh batch of incriminating documents on the 737 MAX to regulators and congressional investigators, only hours after announcing a leadership shakeup, officials confirmed Tuesday.

The document dump came just before Christmas, when many officials already are on holiday, and appear "to point to a very disturbing picture" about Boeing's response to safety issues regarding the 737 MAX, a congressional aide told AFP in an email Tuesday.

The aide said Boeing sent the documents "late in the evening" Monday to congressional staff investigating the issues with the aircraft, which has been grounded since March following two crashes that killed 346 people.

The aerospace giant has faced scrutiny over its decision to keep flying the plane after the first crash and to brush off safety concerns of some employees, and over whether it sacrificed safety in the race to develop a plane to compete with an Airbus jet.

US regulators also have been criticized for a too-cozy relationship with the company it is charged with overseeing.

The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed it received what appears to be the same documents Monday, hours after Boeing ousted Dennis Muilenburg as chief executive amid his much-criticized handling of the MAX crisis.

Boeing said it "proactively" contacted the FAA and Congress "as part of our commitment to transparency," a company spokesman said in an email.

The spokesman also highlighted changes Boeing has made "in the past nine months to enhance our safety processes, organization and culture."

That references the period after the Ethiopian Airlines crash in March. The first 737 MAX crash of a Lion Air flight  happened five months earlier. 

The latest revelations make it clear that despite shaking up its leadership, Boeing will continue to face questions well into 2020 over the actions that led to the crashes as it tries to win approval to return the MAX to service and to restore its damaged reputation.

AFP