World’s biggest plane-maker Boeing plunged into CRISIS after parts rain from sky, jet nose-dives & whistleblower’s death
A a timeline of the company's most serious incidents reveals the scale of the issues facing Boeing
AVIATION giant Boeing has found itself plunged into crisis after a series of dangerous jet failures and the death of a company whistleblower.
The death of John Barnett from an apparent “self-inflicted” gunshot wound comes after a window panel on a Boeing 737 was ripped from one plane mid-flight – and a wheel dropped from the bottom of another jet during takeoff.
Mr Barnett, a former longtime Boeing employee-turned-whistleblower, was found dead in his truck just days after giving evidence against the company which is in the midst of a criminal investigation.
And it’s not the first time Boeing has been caught up in controversy.
The 737 MAX, most commonly used aircraft for commercial flights in the world, was grounded in countries around the world between March 2019 and December 2020.
It came after 346 people died in two similar crashes on the planes, the Lion Air flight in October 2018 and the Ethiopian Airlines flight in March 2019.
The following year debris was also found in the fuel tanks of jets kept in storage with the head of Boeing’s 737 programme telling employees that the discovery was “absolutely unacceptable”.
The planes were eventually allowed to take off in late 2020 after upgrades were made to their jets.
But recent months have seen a spate of fresh safety concerns for the airline giant.
Alaska Airlines door blowout
On January 6, a fuselage panel ripped off midair from an Alaska Airlines flight less than an hour into its journey.
Terrified passengers shared dramatic pictures from inside the plane – with a gaping hole in its side.
Some of them described people’s belongings being sucked out of the space where the door used to be – and one child had the shirt off his back ripped off.
Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci said they would be grounding the entire fleet of 65 Boeing MAX-9 aircraft in the aftermath of the freak incident.
And just days after the terrifying malfunction, US regulators announced they would order the temporary grounding of 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft.
More than 10,000 Boeing commercial jetliners are in use today, carrying people and cargo across the globe.
After January’s disastrous malfunction, the Federal Aviation Administration launched an investigation into Boeing.
Probe into the airline giant
They found concerning evidence of safety issues with the company’s fleet and processes, reports.
Boeing failed a whopping 39 out of 89 individual audits.
Not only did they find dozens of problems in the manufacturing process, they also found the company failed to comply with proper quality regulations.
And one of their major suppliers also presented issues.
In total the aeroplane giant showed almost 100 instances of alleged noncompliance following the FAA’s six-week investigation.
The FAA has given Boeing 90 days to formulate a plan to correct the issues.
In another concerning investigation, the FAA revealed they had found serious problems with Boeing’s safety culture, including fears of retaliation among employees.
US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Monday: “With Boeing facing multiple government investigations, the company needs to make a serious transformation around its safety and manufacturing quality.”
A spokesperson for Boeing told The Sun: “We will continue to cooperate fully and transparently with all government investigations and audits, as we take comprehensive action to improve safety and quality at Boeing.”
Boeing has over 60,000 employees globally, with about 5,700 Boeing aircraft on order.
But as chaos engulfs the company, Boeing could see widespread job losses, disruptions for airlines, impacts on related industries, and a potential shift in the aviation market.
Boeing whistleblower found dead
On Saturday, a former Boeing employee turned whistleblower was found dead in his truck days after giving evidence against the company.
John Barnett, 62, had worked for Boeing for 32 years before he retired in 2017.
He had been providing evidence of alleged wrongdoing at Boeing to investigators working on a lawsuit against the company at the time of his death, according to the .
Barnett died from a “self-inflicted” wound on March 9, the coroner said, as police investigate.
Based on my years of experience and past history of plane accidents, I believe it’s just a matter of time before something big happens with a 787
John Barnett
He was found inside his truck in the parking lot of the Charleston hotel where he had been staying to complete interviews with investigators in the Boeing case.
He was due for further questioning last Saturday, and when he did not appear for the interview, investigators sought him out and ultimately found his body at the hotel.
Beginning in 2010, Barnett was a quality manager at Boeing North Charleston factory producing 787 Dreamliner planes — relied on for long-haul routes.
In 2019, he told BBC reporters that he had seen workers under pressure purposely fitting sub-standard parts onto aircraft on the production line.
Barnett claimed that defective parts were mishandled and sometimes lost or refitted to planes from the company scrapyard to meet production timelines.
He also alleged that he had discovered major issues in some of the planes’ oxygen systems which could lead to one in four masks not functioning properly.
Barnett attributed much of the lower-quality work on the aircraft to an increasingly rushed assembly process that was encouraged by executives who wanted to speed up production.
He also said he had told Boeing managers about his concerns, but the warnings ultimately went unheeded.
“Based on my years of experience and past history of plane accidents, I believe it’s just a matter of time before something big happens with a 787,” Barnett said in 2019.
Boeing denied Barnett’s claims to the BBC, but a 2017 investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) upheld some of Barnett’s assertions.
The FAA found that at least 53 “non-conforming” parts had unknown locations in the factory and were essentially lost.
Also in 2017, Boeing announced that the company had “identified some oxygen bottles received from the supplier that were not deploying properly,” but denied that any of the problematic canisters were actually fitted on aircraft.
In an emailed statement, a Boeing representative told The Sun: “We are saddened by Mr. Barnett’s passing, and our thoughts are with his family and friends.”
Sky high chaos: a timeline of Boeing incidents
BOEING has found itself at the centre of increasingly concerning reports in recent months thanks to malfunctions on its planes. Here is a timeline of the biggest incidents surrounding the American aircraft maker.
March 2024 – Boeing 787 LATAM LA800 “sudden nose-dive”
March 2024 – Wheel falls off Boeing 777 United Airlines plane
January 2024 – Boeing Alaska Airlines ripped window
January 2024 – Boeing 747 Delta Airlines plane loses front tyre
March 2019 – Boeing 737 MAX 8 Ethiopia Airlines fatal crash
October 2018 – Boeing 737 MAX 8 Indonesia Lion Air fatal crash
Wheel falling from the sky
Just days ago a wheel dropped from a packed Boeing plane during takeoff.
Shocking video showed damaged cars after the tyre dropped from the sky.
United Airlines Flight UA35 from the US to Osaka, Japan was forced to land at Los Angeles International Airport in California on March 7.
The Boeing 777 had lost a wheel while taking off from San Francisco.
Emergency services were on standby at LAX Airport – including fire services – after the dangerous malfunction.
Footage from the ground showed cars lined up beside each other in a parking lot at the San Francisco International Airport, one of which was completely destroyed.
The car’s windows had been smashed and its side and trunk seemingly crushed.
United Airlines said: “United flight 35 lost one tyre after takeoff from San Francisco and landed at LAX. Our team quickly arranged for a new aircraft to take customers to Osaka this evening.
“We’re grateful to our pilots and flight attendants for their professionalism in managing this situation.
“We will work with customers as well as with the owners of the damaged vehicles in SFO to ensure their needs are addressed.”
The flight carried 235 passengers, 10 flight attendants, and four pilots, United said.
Missing front tyre
A few weeks after the Alaska Airlines blowout in January, down the runway.
Bound for Bogota, Colombia from Georgia, the plane had to be tugged off the runway.
Delta said in a statement at the time: “Delta Flight 982 ATL/BOG was taxiing for departure when a nose wheel tire came loose from the gear.”
The pilot of the affected plane instantly declared it “a problem” when it was confirmed the wheel had come off.
Another Delta plane behind 982 contacted everyone they could after witnessing the tire fling off.
“Hey… Tower, the 75 on the runway just lost the nose tire,” the 1783 pilot said in the cockpit recordings released by .
The 982 pilot responded, “Hey, thanks for that! Delta 982. Tower sounds like we got a problem.”
Boeing jet takes a nosedive mid-flight
Yesterday, dozens of passengers and crew were injured in a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner plane in the latest controversy to hit the company.
Fifty people were injured onboard the Boeing 787 LATAM plane when it “suddenly nosedived” mid-flight, with 12 rushed to hospital after the incident.
LATAM airlines admitted a “strong movement” hit the jet during its journey from Sydney to Auckland after a “technical problem”.
A video captured the moments after passengers and crew were reportedly thrown into the ceiling when the LATAM plane lost altitude.
People could be seen with their hands over their heads as cabin crew checked on them.
A man onboard the flight said a passenger two seats away from him was not wearing his seat belt and was thrown up into the ceiling, the New Zealand Herald reported.
He said: “His back is on the ceiling and he’s up in the air and then he drops down and hits his head on the armrest. The whole plane is screaming.
“The plane then started taking a nose dive and I was just thinking ‘OK this is it, we’re done’.
“I thought I was dreaming. I opened my eyes and he was on the roof of the plane on his back, looking down on me. It was like The Exorcist.”
The incident occurred with about an hour left in the LA800 flight.
A Boeing spokesperson told The Sun: “We are thinking of the passengers and crew from LATAM Airlines Flight 800, and we commend everyone involved in the response effort.
“We are in contact with our customer, and Boeing stands ready to support investigation-related activities as requested.”
New Zealand authorities said on Tuesday they were seizing the black boxes of the LA800 flight, reported, and transport authorities have launched a probe.
The plane’s cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorders, often known as black boxes, have been seized.
737 Max fatal crashes
In 2019, More than 150 people died when an Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed in March of that year.
The aircraft came down just after departing from an Addis Ababa airport on the morning of March 10.
The pilot had reported difficulties shortly after takeoff and asked to turn the plane around.
The Boeing 737 MAX 8s, which came down around Bishoftu, or Debre Zeit, about 31 miles south of the capital city, was delivered to the airline about four months prior.
The flight was carrying 149 passengers and eight crew members but there were no survivors.
Nine British passengers were on the flight and lost their lives – two more than first feared.
It was the second time in less than six months that one of the planes plummeted to earth within minutes of taking off, after a new Lion Air Boeing 737 Max 8 flight went down over the Java Sea in October 2018.
A child was among the six bodies pulled from the sea after the plane carrying 189 people crashed in Indonesia just moments after the pilot reported “technical difficulties”.
No survivors were found after the Lion Air flight JT-610 crashed 13 minutes after its 6.20am take-off while the firm’s CEO said the jet underwent repair work the night before.
