Revisiting Boeing's Awful 2024 In The Skies And Space

Passengers on an Alaska Airlines flight leaving Portland, Oregon endured a harrowing ordeal when a door plug blew out the side on the flight’s Boeing 737 Max 9 just minutes after takeoff. The massive hole in the fuselage’s side at 16,000 feet caused the cabin to depressurize, the lights to flicker and oxygen masks to drop from the ceiling. Luckily, no one was sitting directly next to the plug as the back of an unoccupied seat was ripped out of the aircraft.

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A whistleblower who gave evidence in a case against Boeing has been found dead in South Carolina. John Barnett, who worked as a quality manager at the 737 Max maker until 2017, was found dead this weekend just days after he was questioned in a legal case he brought against Boeing.

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The investigation into how a door plug blew out of a Boeing 737 Max 9 during an Alaska Airlines flight in January has featured several roadblocks. The latest obstacle is Boeing’s lack of security camera footage inside its Renton, Washington factory as federal investigators struggle to identify the employees who worked on the aircraft’s door plug. Business Insider reports that the aircraft manufacturer has a policy of deleting footage after 30 days.

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The Seattle-based aerospace company first found issues with the next-generation aircraft back in 2018 when one of the jets crashed 13 minutes after takeoff. A second crash followed less than six months later, and the 737 Max was quickly grounded while an investigation into the crashes could take place.

The grounding of the aircraft came to an end in November 2020, after the American company reached an agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration to improve the safety of the plane. However, issues have resurfaced, and now Ars Technica reports that Boeing could have breached that agreement, which could mean it faces criminal prosecution here in America.

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NASA announced on Tuesday that astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore will be returning from the International Space Station no earlier than June 26. The pair launched on June 6 in the Boeing Starliner’s first crewed flight and were slated to return after a week, according to CNN. However, NASA has now delayed the return twice to buy time to understand better the issues the spacecraft experienced during its trip to the station.

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The Department of Justice announced on Sunday that Boeing will plead guilty to a single count of criminal fraud for deceiving the Federal Aviation Administration. The aircraft manufacturer admitted to misleading regulators about the 737 Max’s MCAS flight control feature and the training needed to fly the aircraft equipped with the system. The MCAS was largely to blame for two crashes in 2018 and 2019, which killed 346 people. So, how did we get to this plea deal, and what will happen next?

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The Department of Justice finalized the terms of Boeing’s plea deal on Wednesday. The aircraft manufacturer pleaded guilty to fraud for misleading federal regulators who evaluated the 737 Max before its two crashes in 2018 and 2019. Along with a $243.6 million fine, the DOJ is requiring a $455 million investment into its compliance, quality, and safety programs. However, Boeing will have the right to veto the government’s choices for an independent compliance monitor to oversee… Boeing.

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The Boeing Starliner finally plopped down in the New Mexico desert last week after spending three months in orbit. The beleaguered spacecraft suffered technical problems during its rendezvous with the International Space Station. It drastically prolonged the eight-day mission as engineers raced to identify the issue and fix a solution. Despite NASA allowing the Starliner to return, the space agency wasn’t willing to have astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams for their safety.

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The ramifications of the problematic Boeing Crew Test Flight are becoming clear a month after the Starliner returned to Earth empty. NASA announced on Tuesday that its 2025 Commercial Crew Program missions will exclusively use SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. With the Boeing Starliner unavailable for the foreseeable future, NASA also conceded that it will rely on Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft.

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Boeing seemingly can’t catch a break between the endless problems with the 737 Max and the Starliner’s failed crewed test flight. Intelsat announced on Monday that one of its satellites, built by Boeing, broke up in geostationary orbit. Multiple organizations are tracking the debris to avoid collisions and a potential cascading catastrophe. It’s unclear why the satellite exploded into at least 20 pieces.

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Despite helping NASA first reach the Moon in 1969, Boeing could be tapping out of NASA’s upcoming return to the lunar surface and space entirely. The aerospace giant is considering selling its space division amid its struggles to get the Starliner certified to fly. The spacecraft’s fault-riddled crewed test flight stranded two astronauts in space into next year and scrapped its use in upcoming missions for the foreseeable future.

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The two NASA astronauts stuck on the International Space Station by the issue-plague Boeing Starliner now have to wait a little longer to return to Earth. NASA announced on December 17 that February’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission has been pushed back until March at the earliest. The delay will allow SpaceX more time to complete processing on a new Dragon spacecraft for the mission.

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