India crash is fresh setback in Boeing’s bid to restore reputation | Money News

As hundreds lie dead following the latest tragedy to beset a Boeing passenger plane, it is too early to determine blame.

Pilot error, engine failure and bird strikes are among the theories all being banded about. Only the recovery of Flight AI171‘s black box flight recorders are likely to provide the concrete answers.

What is inescapable though is that this is an air disaster the plane’s maker, Boeing, could well do without.

Plane crash latest: 53 Britons on board

It sounds petty, in the midst of such a catastrophe, to be talking about the impact on a company, but this has been a civil aviation giant left deeply scarred, in the public eye, through its attitude to safety in recent years.

While the 787 Dreamliner’s record had been impressive up until today, the same can not be said for the company’s 737 MAX planes.

The entire fleet was grounded globally for almost two years following the demise of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 outside Addis Ababa in March 2019.

All 157 people aboard were killed.

Six months earlier, a Lion Air 737 MAX, carrying 189 passengers and crew, crashed in Indonesia.

At fault was flight control software that has since been rectified.

That recent past continues to haunt Boeing.

It took those crashes to uncover a culture of cover-up. It amounted to not only a corporate failure but one of regulation and justice too, according to critics, as relatives were denied their days in court due to plea bargains.

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Just last month, the US Justice Department and Boeing agreed a non-prosecution agreement over those two fatal crashes in return for $1.1bn in fines and an admission that it obstructed the investigation.

It raises several questions over the US legal system and its ability to police corporate activity and incentivise playing by the rules.

Boeing safety record under scrutiny after first fatal Dreamliner crash

Science and Technology reporter

The crash of an Air India plane, carrying 242 people bound for Gatwick Airport from Ahmedabad, is the first fatal incident for Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner.

Experienced pilots who have studied video of the moments before the crash have told Sky News the flaps on the wings appear not to be set in the normal take-off position, however the cause of incident is unknown.

In a statement, Boeing said: “We are in contact with Air India regarding Flight 171 and stand ready to support them.

“Our thoughts are with the passengers, crew, first responders and all affected.”

Multiple concerns about Boeing’s Dreamliners, the most modern passenger aircraft in service, have previously been raised by whistleblowers.

In April 2024, a Boeing quality engineer, Sam Salehpour, told members of a Senate subcommittee that Boeing was taking shortcuts to bolster production levels that could lead to jetliners breaking apart.

The engineer said he studied Boeing’s own data and concluded “that the company is taking manufacturing shortcuts on the 787 programme that could significantly reduce the airplane’s safety and the life cycle”.

“They are putting out defective airplanes,” he said.

Boeing denied Mr Salehpour’s claims about the Dreamliner’s structural integrity.

In the same week, a separate Senate commerce committee heard from members of an expert panel that found serious flaws in Boeing’s safety culture.

One of the panel members, MIT aeronautics lecturer Javier de Luis, said workers feel pressure to push planes through the factory as fast as they can.

When talking to Boeing workers, he said he heard “there was a very real fear of payback and retribution if you held your ground”.

Speaking to a Senate subcommittee in June 2024, Boeing chief executive Dave Calhoun said: “Our culture is far from perfect, but we are taking action and making progress. We understand the gravity.”

“We are taking comprehensive action today to strengthen safety and quality.”

In May 2024, federal investigators opened a fresh investigation into the Boeing 787 Dreamliner – after the firm said several employees had committed “misconduct” by falsely claiming tests had been completed.

The Federal Aviation Authority said Boeing was “reinspecting all 787 airplanes still within the production system and must also create a plan to address the in-service fleet” while the investigation is taking place.

Would a British manufacturer have been offered such a deal by US prosecutors?

As for regulation, we’re told oversight has been stepped up and the number of planes that Boeing makes is still subject to controls in a bid to boost quality.

The company has long denied putting profit before safety, but that is what almost every whistleblower to have come forward to date has alleged.

The production limits were implemented after a mid-air door plug blowout aboard an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 flight in January last year.

They are hampering Boeing’s efforts to restore profitability.

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What we know so far about AI171 crash

A 5% fall in its share price at the market open on Wall Street goes to the heart of Boeing’s problem.

That is every time a Boeing plane is involved in an accident or failure, investors’ first instincts are to run for the hills.

Boeing says it is seeking more information on the nature of the Air India crash.

But whether Boeing’s plane is at fault for the loss of Flight 171 or not – and we have seen nothing so far to indicate that was the case – it’s clear the company has a long way to go to restore trust.

In a statement, Boeing president and chief executive Kelly Ortberg, said: “Our deepest condolences go out to the loved ones of the passengers and crew on board Air India Flight 171, as well as everyone affected in Ahmedabad.

“I have spoken with Air India chairman N. Chandrasekaran to offer our full support, and a Boeing team stands ready to support the investigation led by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).”

Boeing will defer to India’s AAIB to provide information about Air India Flight 171, in adherence with the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization protocol, the company added.

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