Boeing Faces Reckoning Over Deadly 737 Max Crashes
A new documentary series, Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing, sheds light on the aviation safety scandal surrounding Boeing's 737 Max planes. The film claims that the company's profit-driven culture led to two plane crashes and the deaths of 346 people. Former Boeing employee John Barnett, who was a whistleblower in the first documentary, Downfall: The Case Against Boeing, died mysteriously in March 2024 while in the middle of a deposition.
The film features interviews with whistleblowers, families of victims, and politicians who are critical of Boeing's leadership. One contributor, Naoise Connolly Ryan, lost her husband and two children when they were killed on Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in 2019. Another whistleblower says that John Barnett was a 'lighthouse' who pointed people in the right direction.
The documentary also includes footage from Boeing's Dreamliner assembly plant in South Carolina, where workers are shown to be hesitant to fly on the planes they manufacture. The film accuses Boeing of prioritizing shareholder profit over product quality and public safety.