Boeing’s tumultuous year got even worse after a year on Monday “technical event” resulted in a 787-9 Dreamliner crashing on a flight from Sydney to Auckland, New Zealand, injuring 50 people.
A passenger, Brian Jokat, told the BBC that the plane “crashed like he had never experienced before,” causing some passengers to hit the roof and shatter the roof panels. After arriving, New Zealand Ambulance Service Hato Hone St. John treated about 50 people, said Anna Pownall, the incident commander at the scene a statement. Pownall said a total of 12 people were taken to hospital, including one in serious condition and the rest with moderate to minor injuries.
Latam Airlines, which operated the plane, told multiple media outlets that the incident was “a technical incident during the flight that caused a strong movement.”
Latam said in a news release that the plane “experienced a strong shake, the causes of which are under investigation,” and when asked for comment, an airline spokesman declined to comment Assets to its public accessibility opinion. A Boeing spokesman said this Assets in a statement that the company was “working to gather more information about the flight.”
The injuries on the Latam flight are just the latest in a series of incidents involving Boeing aircraft since the start of the year. Last week alone there was a Boeing aircraft on the road came off the runway, lost a tireAnd Flames shot out of his engine– all in separate incidents.
Although the plane that lost a tire was not recently built and the burning engine was reportedly caused by bubble wrap being sucked in, the proximity of the incidents is a bad impression for a company already under scrutiny.
Boeing’s recent problems began in January with a door jam on an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 blown off While the plane was in the air, it had to turn back just 20 minutes after departure.
Following the event, a preliminary investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board determined that the door plug that flew off may have been the case missing screws. The Federal Aviation Administration reviewed Boeing and a supplier, Spirit AeroSystems, after the doorstop incident and found several violations, according to a statement from the agency. The FAA gave Boeing 90 days to design a plan to address the findings of the audit as well as previous concerns about its “safety culture.”
The Justice Department has now opened a criminal investigation into the door plug incident in January and a grand jury has been convened to review the evidence Washington posNot reported citing a person briefed on the matter. The investigation does not necessarily have to result in fees.
Boeing shares are down 23% year-to-date, driven in part by recent issuances. The company’s shares were down 3% at Monday’s close.