The black series continues for Boeing – Liberation
The scene was captured by a smartphone: shortly after taking off this Thursday from Ahmedabad airport, in northwestern India, a Boeing 787-8 seems to have trouble gaining altitude and inexorably descends in the air at more than 300 km/h before crash on a building in an orange fire ball. Of the 230 passengers and 12 crew members of the Air India flight, only a miracle that occupied the seat 11a seemed to have survived at the time of the first assessment, while the rescuers were still acting in the rubble. Among the victims, 168 Indians, 53 British, 7 Portuguese and a Canadian … but also an indefinite number of people on the ground, among the occupants of the building affected.
This terrible crash whose causes are not yet known – we just know that the device has issued a distress call before crashing – is the last tragic event in a black series for the American manufacturer. And it’s a very hard blow for Boeing: the 787 « Dreamliner » is in service in more than 80 airlines around the world. Boeing, who worked soon after the accident « To bring together more information », could only transmit his « thoughts » has « All people affected » While waiting for his investigators immediately dispatched to the site learn more about the causes of the drama: technical failure? Piloting error?
The aircraft, a 787 Dreamliner that has been in service for thirteen years, is far from being an old cuckoo: it belongs to the latest generation of long-haul aircraft put on the market from 2007 by Boeing. Today there are 1,150 Boeing 787-8 in service and 796 in order. The device is sold for $ 200 million. And unlike older models, its fuselage is made up of a single piece and in composite material. However, the production of the 787 was not without problem. Between the month of May 2021 and the month of August 2022, Boeing could not deliver a single copy of this device at the request of the American regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). In question, the quality of the plane assembly process which did not meet all the criteria required. In 2023, production was again interrupted for a problem detected on the fuselage. And before, the plane had already experienced an engine problem, with the stop of one of the two reactors at cruising speed during a flight from the Japan Airlines … But so far, the 787 Dreamliner has never crushed.
Apparently after this series, the situation seemed to improve since Boeing had obtained last year from the American authorities, the authorization to go from five to seven aircraft assembled per month. But this air disaster completely changes the situation. At this stage and even before the analysis of the black boxes several hypotheses seem to be under study, in particular a push problem on one of the two engines. This essential part of the plane is made by the Franco-American duo Safran-General Electric…
This accident immerses Boeing in a crisis situation which started on October 29, 2018 with the crash of a 737 of the Lion Air Company In the Java Sea which left 189 dead. On March 10, 2019, another device of the same type of Ethiopian Airlines crashes this time with 157 passengers. A flight control system supposed to avoid dropping out (the loss of brutal altitude) of the plane was implicated in these two dramas. The American administration ended up in the crosshairs for having too quickly authorized the commissioning of this new version of the Court Courrier model from Boeing. The plane was then nailed to the ground for almost two years, while its manufacturer reviews the implicated software. Pending the conclusions of the investigation, we do not yet know what will happen to the flight authorization of 787 Dreamliner. But at Wall Street, the Boeing action gave up more than 4 % on Thursday. The engine manufacturers also: Safran was down 1.8 % at the end in Paris and General Electric 3.4 % on the New York Stock Exchange.
These recent accidents illustrate the change in culture of Boeing, where financiers have largely taken power over engineers. The pressure on the release of new models then took precedence over security. Since these serial disasters, Boeing has also turned its former leaders and renewed the team at the head of the group. However, the 737 has not signed the end of the problems. This model has again experienced a big concern with the dropout of a door in full flight on January 5, 2024 on an Alaska Airlines flight. In the crowd, devices of this type were again nailed to the ground.
On the social front, Boeing was also faced in the last quarter of 2024 in the longest strike in its history: eight weeks of work stoppage at the end of which management accepts a 38 % salary increase over four years. This social movement would have cost $ 6.5 billion to the aeronautical manufacturer. The group’s results also reflect these continuous crises. Last year, Boeing lost $ 11.8 billion. And in total, the group will have displayed $ 35 billion in losses in five years.
On Monday, the most important world aeronautical fair opens its doors at Le Bourget (Seine-Saint-Denis). Boeing occupies one of the most important chalets. Traditionally this event is an opportunity for the aircraft manufacturer to announce major orders. But will use be maintained after this terrible air disaster?
