HUNT VALLEY, Md. (TND) — It was once: “If it ain’t Boeing, I ain’t going.”
Now, some travelers may be thinking: “I ain’t going if it’s Boeing.”
Don’t panic – you still have a higher chance of giving birth to quadruplets, getting killed in a shark attack, or getting struck by lightning than dying in a plane accident.
But, you may be experiencing slight aerophobia amid this news cycle: a door blowing off a plane mid-flight; a cockpit window cracking; a wheel flying off during takeoff; an engine somehow ingesting bubble wrap and catching fire in midair; a plane skidding off the runway into the grass; the list goes on.
A particularly frightening incident occurred just last week on a LATAM Airlines flight between Australia and New Zealand. Fifty people were injured after the plane dropped roughly 500 feet “instantly,” as passengers described it. The drop literally tossed passengers around the cabin.
“There were various individuals at the top of the plane. Just stuck to the roof, and then they fell to the floor,” said passenger, Brian Jokat. “Then I just realized I’m not in a movie – this is actually for real.”
As it turns out, the plunge was most likely a human error.
Boeing sent a memo to airlines Friday telling them to inspect switches on pilots’ seats in the 787 Dreamliner jets. Reportedly, a flight attendant serving a meal in the cockpit accidentally hit that switch, which thrust the pilot into the controls, pushing down the nose of the plane.
Those switches are supposed to be securely covered, but that one was not. Boeing hasn’t officially linked the memo to the LATAM Airlines flight.
Still, the incident – like the several others in recent months – is under investigation.
All of them have one thing in common – Boeing planes.
The Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft came under harsh scrutiny after the Alaska Airlines door plug incident, but the LATAM Airlines Boeing was a 787 Dreamliner. The Boeing 777-200 had its tire pop off, and the Boeing 737-800 lost an external panel.
To make matters worse for the company, one of its former longtime employees who raised serious concerns about Boeing’s production standards was found dead last weekend with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Boeing is not accused of wrongdoing, but John Barnett’s family members said he was “deeply concerned about the safety of the aircraft and flying public.”
United Airlines is also having a turbulent time. It reported five incidents in one week – all involving Boeing planes.
The airline says it’s just a coincidence that this many happened this close together in time, and they were “distinct and unrelated to one another.”
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby sent an email to customers Monday to try to reassure them.
“Safety is our highest priority and is at the center of everything we do,” he wrote. “Unfortunately, in the past few weeks, our airline has experienced a number of incidents that are reminders of the importance of safety.”
Kirby said the airline is implementing “an extra day of in-person training for all pilots starting in May and a centralized training curriculum for our new-hire maintenance technicians.”
“You can be confident that every time a United plane pulls away from the gate, everyone on our team is working together to keep you safe on your trip,” Kirby said.
No one was injured in any of United’s mishaps.
But Boeing can’t say the same, and it’s faced intense scrutiny since it had to ground all its 737 Max jets worldwide for almost two years after two fatal crashes. One in 2018 killed 189 people in Indonesia; the other in 2019 killed 157 people in Ethiopia.
Those were due to a downplayed system Boeing added that pilots didn’t know about, an automated flight-control system. The company agreed to pay $2.5 billion to settle a Justice Department investigation, admitting employees misled regulators about the safety of the 737 Max.
Back then, investigations uncovered what congressional lawmakers called a “horrific culmination” of failed oversight, design flaws and inaction at Boeing.
This year, Boeing had to temporarily ground some of its planes again after the door blowout. And then came more investigations.
The National Transportation Safety Board says it still hasn’t gotten key documents from Boeing in its investigation into the door plug blowout – not for the reason of withholding, but for lack of a paper trail altogether. Federal regulators still can’t identify who worked on that door plug.
The Department of Justice is also launching a probe into the Jan. 5 incident, with which Alaska Airlines says it’s cooperating. The airline added it’s typical for the DOJ to investigate a situation like this, and it doesn’t believe it’s the target of the investigation.
The Federal Aviation Administration conducted a six-week audit of Boeing’s production of the 737 Max jet after the Alaska Airlines door plug incident. According to the New York Times, the federal agency found dozens of problems.
The full findings of the audit haven’t been released yet, but the report found Boeing failed 33 of the 89 product audits the FAA conducted. There were 97 reported instances of alleged noncompliance.
One of Boeing’s key suppliers that makes the fuselage of the 737 Max, Spirit AeroSystems (not to be confused with Spirit Airlines, which is unrelated) failed several audits as well.
The FAA says it saw some Spirit AeroSystems mechanics use a hotel key card to check a door seal. They also spotted Spirit mechanics applying liquid Dawn soap to a door seal “as lubricant in the fit-up process.” The door seal was then cleaned with a wet cheesecloth.
“It wasn't just paperwork issues,” FAA Chairman Mike Whitaker said last week. “Sometimes it's the order that work is done. Sometimes it's tool management.”
In response to the report, Spirit AeroSystems spokespeople said they’re reviewing all those instances, and implementing immediate changes to strengthen safety and quality.
“Boeing is a fine company. Do they have to clean house? They do,” says Captain Richard Levy.
Levy retired after being a pilot for two major U.S. airlines for more than four decades. He’s not allowed to disclose which ones he worked for due to nondisclosure reasons, but he almost exclusively flew Boeing planes.
Since retiring, Levy has taught in airplane simulators, and also serves as an aviation expert for attorneys involved in aviation litigation.
He says the scrutiny Boeing faces is rightfully so, and the company needs to review its work ethics and professionalism. But, that doesn’t mean Boeing planes should be taken off the market, by any means, and a lot of times, these incidents have nothing to do with the aircraft itself.
“Would I have any hesitation flying a Boeing 737 Max if I was still on the line flying? Zero hesitation,” Levy said. “I flew basically Boeing airplanes my whole career. The workforce is being scrutinized and it should be, but two plus two does not equal four that Boeing has a bad product.”
Given Boeing’s recent history, you may be wondering if you can just avoid Boeing and fly planes built by a different manufacturer. You can, but there’s really only one other major large passenger aircraft manufacturer: the European-based Airbus.
(But just so you know, the aforementioned Spirit AeroSystems is also a major supplier to several Airbus planes).
Airbus has held the top manufacturing spot over Boeing for five years.
Last year, Airbus delivered 735 planes, and pulled a record 2,094 commercial aircraft orders. Boeing, on the other hand, delivered 528 commercial airplanes and recorded 1,576 net orders.
According to Airbus’ website, its planes flew 32 million flights in 2023 with no reported fatalities. Its highest numbers of fatalities reported in a calendar year – just 18 – were recorded in 1973 and 1989.
Boeing hasn’t released data for 2023 yet, but it won’t report any fatalities either. From 2013 to 2022, Boeing reported 32 fatal accidents. Airbus reported 29 for the same time frame.
“One cannot say that one is safer than the other,” Levy said. “There are some people who are Boeing people and there are some people who are Airbus people. The majority of people in the back of the airplane have no idea what kind of airplane it is.”
In fact, last year, the International Air Transport Association reported it was the safest year to fly in history. There was one fatal flight last year – a Yeti Airlines flight that crashed and killed all 72 passengers. By comparison, in 2022, there were 39 accidents, five deadly, totaling 158 fatalities.
At this level of safety, the IATA says on average, a person would have to travel by air every day for 103,239 years to experience a fatal accident.
Here in the U.S., there hasn’t been a fatal plane crash with a major American airline since February 2009.
In the last decade, the aviation industry has improved its overall safety performance by 48%, according to the IATA.
For even more context, your chance of being killed on a flight anywhere in the world between 2018 and 2022 was 1 in 13.4 million. Between 1968 and 1977, that chance was one in 350,000.
The data shows accidents are going down, which means we may just be more aware of them now, and paying more attention.
“Little mosquito bites happen all the time, and that’s called real life,” Levy said. “The least infraction of a flight is being reported on, especially if it’s Boeing.”
If you’re still reading, and you’re still worried, let’s brush up on what we know.
None of these planes that had issues in the air failed to land, meaning they’re designed to keep working even if something goes wrong. In fact, a passenger aircraft can still glide even if all its engines fail.
Not only do flight attendants and pilots have to undergo rigorous background and psychological tests, they are extensively trained on how to handle emergency situations before they start working.
That training never stops. Levy said he used to be a “check pilot,” a qualified pilot who could hop onto another flight’s jump seat and monitor the crew’s decision-making.
Now, he runs a flight simulator, an electronic or mechanical system that simulates emergency flight situations.
“We go into the simulator; we give you emergencies – you would never have what we give to you,” he said. “It’s almost unreal. There’s no limit to what we can give to you. It becomes fake after a while, but we put you in a situation where you’ve gotta make some good decisions.”
You can also find out what type of plane you’ll be flying on before you book a flight. Nearly every airline lists the type of aircraft during the booking process, but there are also other third-party sites that make sure you know what model you’ll be on, like Expert Flyer or SeatGuru.
Levy said in his 40+ years as a pilot, long before Boeing’s high-profile fatal crashes, he brought plenty of people with fears of flying into the cockpit to let them see the bells and whistles, and explain how everything works. He welcomes anyone feeling nervous to do that themselves, as long as the flight’s not running behind. (But yes, you have to ask the pilot first before you go into the cockpit).
When asked what his message is to anyone especially nervous in light of recent news:
“The answer is, go on board and bring your best magazine or book to read. Bring your laptop, your iPad and work, enjoy life or take a great nap.
“Why do I say that? Am I overlooking something? No, I’m not. Before Alaska, during this time, and in the future, the flight crew and the airplane are so scrutinized. It’s not going to be perfect; life is not perfect. But the crew, the flight test, the pilots, the dispatchers, the maintenance people, are looking over the airplane, and the product is going to be safe. The airplane would not be flown if there’s any doubt about it at all.”
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