Air India Plane Crash: Boeing 787 Dreamliner Is the Same Aircraft Dead Whistleblower Exposed Last Year

A grave incident shocked the world when an Air India flight crashed and killed all but one passenger in Ahmedabad. However, the focus now turns to Boeing, the American multinational plane company whose aircraft, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, was used for Air India Flight 171.

This is because it is the same model that was scrutinized last year when a whistleblower claimed that it had undergone "sub-standard" development in their American plants during production.

Boeing 787 Dreamliner Used by Air India Crash

Gizmodo shared a report that looks back on the scrutiny that Boeing faced from its former employees, particularly as Flight 171's Boeing 787 Dreamliner is the same aircraft that was said to have massive issues. It starts with John Barnett, a former Boeing quality manager who retired in 2017, who came forward to reveal to the world and US regulators that the 787 Dreamliner's production was heavily flawed.

The same Boeing 787 Dreamliner was also mentioned in an exposé last year by a former engineer of the company, Sam Salehpour, who claimed that the aircraft could break apart "midair" because of its assembly process.

After many whistleblowers exposed the company by coming forward, Boeing has since admitted to falsifying the documents they submitted to the FAA about the 787 line, particularly on its bonding and grounding where the wings and the fuselage meet.

Dead Whistleblower Warned the World Last Year

As early as 2019, Barnett warned the world about the 787 Dreamliner's flaws via the New York Times report, which called Boeing's process to develop the aircraft a "shoddy production." Barnett has since died due to an apparent suicide as he also faced a legal fight against Boeing outside the whistleblower case.

Fast forward to last year, Salehpour was among the most recent who shared warnings about the 787 Dreamliner.

All the warnings may have fallen on deaf ears as the world went on to see Air India Flight 171 using the same jet erupt into flames shortly after its takeoff.

Around a decade ago, Boeing showed off the 787 Dreamliner aircraft at the Paris Air Show and touted it as a significant development in the company's line of aviation vehicles due to its new features. The company unveiled that the 787-9 Dreamliner can do a "near vertical" takeoff from the runway, with pilots praising how they can perform "technical maneuvers" using the aircraft.