Boeing's Safety Culture Under Fire After 737 Max Crashes

A documentary series by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Rory Kennedy sheds light on Boeing's safety culture and its handling of the 737 Max crashes. The two incidents, Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, resulted in the deaths of 346 people in 2018 and 2019.

Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing explores what happened after the crashes, including the role of whistle-blower John Barnett. Barnett, a former quality manager at Boeing's South Carolina plant, raised concerns about manufacturing practices and the potential for defective parts to be installed on planes.

Barnett became one of Boeing's most prominent whistle-blowers and appeared in Kennedy's 2022 documentary, Downfall: The Case Against Boeing. In March 2024, Barnett was found dead in his vehicle in South Carolina, with his death ruled a suicide while he was involved in legal proceedings against the company.

The families of those who lost their lives in the crashes also feature prominently in Freefall. Naoise Connolly Ryan, whose husband Mick died aboard Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, expresses her anger at Boeing and the US justice system for not holding the company accountable.