This is a major project by the Al Jazeera Investigative Unit focusing on the 787 “Dreamliner”, the flagship passenger jet of the Boeing Company.
Our journalism reveals the deeply-held safety concerns of current and former Boeing engineers, who in some cases fear to fly on the 787, the plane they build.
We uncover allegations of on-the-job drug use, quality control problems and poor workmanship.
We explore the roots of the battery problems that led to the plane’s grounding due to safety concerns for three months from January 2013.
For more on the investigation, visit http://www.aljazeera.com/boeing787
Senior Producer/Director: Marc Shaffer
Producer/Director of Photography/Editor: Colin McIntyre
Producer: Kevin Hirten
Reporter/Producer: Will Jordan
Music Composer: Ryan Whittier
Additional Music: Sean Hirten
#AlJazeeraInvestigations #Boeing787 #BrokenDreams
I was an Aerospace Engineer most of my life, civil and military, with all the big manufacturers and operators… I have been telling people for years to avoid going on any Boeing,, but most are just interested in a cheap ticket 😮😢
… The official introduction of the Boeing 787 … Master of Ceremonies : Tom Brokaw … Staging Production of the empty shell : Elon Musk ? …… The DOWNSIDE of endless Deregulation … did you really think there weren’t any ? …
I flew for Etihad airways and they had a zero policy of carrying lithium batteries of any sort as cargo….
UNION PROPAGANDA!!!!!!!!
I wouldnt fly on boeing. Not sure what they are doing. Im amazed they are selling.
him stepping out now = new position and pay rise
Ironic those Lithium Ion batteries in the 787 were made in Japan !!!!
Just one competitor, and this is what has happened to Boeing. Imagine what would happen once Chinese aircrafts hit the market. It’s scary to even think of trusting Boeing!
If airlines stopped buying Boeing planes maybe then they would
Get their act together
Airbus for the win !
The management board is at the mercy of the shareholders who demand the only acceptable standard above all else is maximum profit every quarterly.
The safety issues in this documentary were a dress rehearsal for the 737MAX disaster. Wall Street priorities replaced safety concerns.
The 787 is frequently called The Plastic Princess. Boeing believed that cutting small corners around the quality of individual parts, and the assembly on the 787 program in order to meet schedules, would NOT seriously impact the overall finished quality of the entire aircraft, but this is a fallacy. What is the integrity of an entire aircraft, but the proper integration, and harmony of all of its sub – components. The Boeing 777 was the last truly greatly engineered Boeing aircraft. Beyond the problems with the batteries, could the 787’s be flying time bombs? What do we really know about the long-term fatigue, and failure characteristics of composite airframe structures?? The 737 MCAS fiasco revealed the failures, and flaws of builder self-regulation.
They should have stuck with aluminum, the composite fuse. barrel issue’s delayed the program by 3 years. Now there have been issues with the titanium joins between the fuse. Sections.
Greed is a terrible thing.
F*** that f****** n***** president.
Lying Boeing execs used a reporter from a cable network that specializes in lies (NBC) to lie to the world about the most dangerous new passenger airliner ever introduced.
Boeing sold its soul to the MBAs at McDonnell Douglas who then proceeded to eat its heart: engineering.
I’ll never fly on another Boeing passenger airliner.
Yeah but profit. Right guys?..
Sad that a great American company was sold out to corporate America just to turn profit instead of pride in there work.
That pension for Jim mcnerdy (bad spelling) is out of control, how is that possible, we can’t let money rule us
Building quality in after the fact is like putting a band aid on after an infection sets in.
This is the most false story that Al Jazeera ever did proven to be false in every single way, and the whistleblowers sound like disgruntled employees
Even Boeing themslves admit the constant issues with 787 even in 2023, plagued by issues. Airlines still literally refuse to take planes from certain factories. All public news
“There’s not enough oxygen to start a fire” ?
Is he kidding?
The chemicals inside the battery provide their own oxidizer. Even worse, Lithium reacts with water and all the normal ways of putting out a fire.
More water = more fire.
I attribute this to Boeing’s Corp Management move to Chicago which is a city rife with corruption (police, fire dept, right on up to every mayor taking kickbacks and other illegal deals).
I believe Boeing Management should ONLY be allowed to fly in their 787. That way if there is a disaster we’re sure to get new management.
China sabotage
Yes, and we all trust what terrorists have to say. Per-mile this is the safest plane in history. Nice try terrorist
There is always going to be some one who will knock, uncover, unfrock and cast scorn on the worlds largest and most reputable aircraft maker. I am sure there are a small percentage of Airbus employeers who smoke weed and are less than 100% on the job. Part of the story is the desire ( Al Jazeera and its anti US clients) to unseat Boeing from its dominant position in aviation. I hope and imagine this will not be the case.
I love how you have nothing to actually support your accusations. You simply throw in some subjective opinions and brand it some sort of factual conclusion. Largest? Airbus has a longer orderbook. Reputable? *Cough cough * 737 Max.
Just go back to the manufacturing principals used by the builders of the DC-3. Period.
It’s 2023 & they’re still at it with their close links to the FAA. Constant lobbying for even more self regulation & certification. Funny cause since then countless airlines are known to refuse planes built in Carolina….to this day!
Watching in 2023: 787 is one of the safest airplanes flying. It is a huge success and the workhorse of Boeing. The flaws in the beginning of the productions are irrelevant when put in perspective. The reporter might have flown the 87 a few dozen times already 😅
Funny how you fail to mention how deliveries were halted a couple weeks ago. Problems with the horizontal stabilizers I recall. And that came only weeks after the last delivery stop.
Watching this, within days of the Titan submarine destruction, we now know what can happen when you take shortcuts of the production of a pressure vessel.
I am, why do you ask?
Boeing used to mean something , now it’s non -union,non engineer governed manufacturing!
It’s the same old story. Boeing has become so big that its failure is guaranteed by the laws of profit. Profit ALWAYS wins over safety and purdence.
Boeing became tbe victim of corporate shills instead of engineers and pilots and it is disgusting,
I’m not a company man but if the quality was so bad why hasn’t there been any accidents as of almost 2024? 737 Max not withstanding. I think this video is probably 50/50. 50% hit job, 50% legit concerns and issues. And that’s all I have to say about that.
Just because there hasn’t been a full crash doesn’t mean there haven’t been incidents. Delivery of 787s were halted a couple weeks ago because of quality issues with the horizontal stabilizers. And that came only weeks after the previous delivery stop.
when you cut and cut and cut and shave off to save a dime hear n there what did you expect you have an airborne cardboard box and with all the mayhem
and trouble that goes on in airports and on planes with stupid people that will use any excuse to start a fight i wonder why they say that air traffic is going to
increase until 2050 who wants to fly with all this bad publicity ?? i don’t i would walk before i get on that flying coffin or stay home
I have bipolar disorder type 2, and spend 38 and a half years as a technical documentation and project leader specialist in high-tech. The man who admitted his disorders and got crushed is my hero. Always do the right thing.
BOEING 787: THE NIGHTMARE LINER
As I always say, DOG LEVY AMERKA! This is the perfect example of how unbridled evil amerkin capitalism kills people, is destroying our precious planet, and already has made the u.s. a 3rd world “country” and garbage heap!!!
8 years later, the 787 are the work horse and money maker for the airline. This video did not aged well.
Yes it did. They reported on the events at the time, there is nothing in this report that changes with time. And the 787 has been riddled with quality issues even the last couple years. Not to mention the max debacle.
Manufature in China: fail.
Manufacture in non-union, 3rd world red state: fail.
Has Boeing considered manufacturing in America?
Boeing planes are not safe to fly.
10:32 “any fire will be impossible , because there’s not enough oxygen” .
Shortage of oxygen is not a problem for Li-ion fires as the battery contains both fuel and oxidizer , like rocket engines .
Ultimately Ali Bahrami had his way to give more self certification to the manufacturer , the FAA to serve as a mere rubber stamp at the end of the process .
The cost ? Lion Air flight 610 with 189 souls on board , Ethiopian Air flight 302 with a further 157 souls on board . All because Boeing certified their MCAS on the 737max , duly rubber stamped by the FAA .
No price too high to pay for profit, especially when you can afford your own private jet , after all , who’d want to fly in a death trap after making all that cash ?
“Dreamliner”? What pretentious nonsense!
20 years ago I worked in a management capacity on the new Cooper River Bridge – connecting Mt Pleasant and Charleston SC. If Boeing has been recruiting local labor from the same “talent pool” as we had to, then the claims made in this report about drug taking and poor quality of fabrication are entirely believable.
That leading photo says it all.
Boeing dont car about your life, only about your money. Thats a fact!
This is ridiculous. There are smart, informed pilots who are dying to fly this platform. Every new airframe will have issues. Can someone name one fatal Dreamliner crash?
I’m looking for one
Well in two years 27 incidents … and that’s only the Dreamliner… that’s already extremely alarming
This is an Airbus infomercial
This documentary although slightly dated paints a terrifying picture but if the planes are that bad I still don’t understand why they aren’t dropping out the sky.
Maybe hiring drug taking, burger flipper none union labour is the way forward because so far the safety record of the 787 is excellent.
The crazy part to me is the batteries were known even then. I use them in my rc cars and airplanes and have had a few catch fire while charging and while in use, and of corse during a crash. So this didn’t surprise me one bit when all this happened.
As long as corporative dollar winning corporations in USA, employed ingeeniers from Europa and those capacities sitt in positions which sourvailles the “products”, things in USA eventually functions. Problems begin to develope everywhere, along with the taking over of those individuals prepared in USA at their private institutions, conditions, basical conditions of the personal taking care of direction and ruling of institutions such as this one covered by Al Jazeera, everything degenerates in most of the products of USAs industry and commerce. Not only Boeing, MacDonalds, IBM and many others as with Government itself have the same lines: money gainings beeing the only criteria, besides, creater better conditions for killing people one way or another through its degenerate products.
I don’t know why these American companies are so negligent in quality. Just like American cars like GM and Chrysler that frequently breaks down, maintenance nightmares and almost impossible to fix when broke. too many corporate bullshit for the sake of cost and saving while compromising human lives at best.
If this episode did not happened 8 years ago, we will see real casualties of 787. I guess they woke up from their mistakes at 787 program and solved it’s quality mess. The 787 now is a finer plane by now. the 737 MAX is another story…
I wonder what happened to the whistleblower.
The Screamliner 😳
Heck Boeing doesn’t care they’re too busy working on EM drives for UAP’s
All you can design on a computer is a pile of manure, and it stinks. Bridges fall down, walkways collapse, motors cannot circulate oil, airplanes do not fly. Better off staying at home built before 1995 so it does not fall on your head.
How can this be OK? How can we be mad at volts wagon when we did this this is disgusting!
Nine years on & a lot of issues have been fixed. And Rolls Royce fixed the problems with the Trent 1000 engines. The B787 is not in the same league as the De Havilland Comet from the 1950’s and even that plane’s problems were fixed & went on to be a reliable aircraft.
Fly Airbus, see the world
Fly Boeing, see the next one
Boeing is a perfect example of unfettered and unregulated capitalism. It’s an American Abomination!
I don’t trust Boing any more 🍻
Well if it’s Boeing I ain’t going…
Another Islamic propaganda BS…!!!!!
Al Jazeera is HQ’d in Qatar. Qatar happens to be the biggest US ally in the arab world and US has the biggest miltary base there in the Middle East. I do not think it is propaganda
And the door blow up is also propaganda, I challange you to take the flight with Max now
Islamists are too stupid to build one – so all they do is spread stupidity….!!! It’s 2023 and it’s flying just fine…!!!! I flew it many times….!!!! Idiots…!!!!!
I bet. Asians. Are buying mostly. Of them. .
Boeing must remember that there have been massive airplane manufacturers in the past that have failed and if it does not go back to its ideological foundation, it too will fail.
Boeing are their own worst enemy, if things weren’t already bad enough after the fallout from the 737 MAX fiasco when you had an ex-Boeing employee reveal just exactly what was going on behind the scenes and then it became public knowledge that Boeing cut corners and were guilty of putting something other than safety at the top of their list of priorities.
In the aviation industry that’s a recipe for disaster, when you put profits ahead of public safety you end up losing the trust and what’s more is that you will never really get back to those levels that you once experienced.
Boeing has betrayed the trust of their customers and the world at large and don’t really deserve to be the world’s best airliner manufacturer anymore.
All aboard the Airbus, everyone.
Vive la France,
Vive la Airbus.
Letting Boeing police their own standards is a bit like the Catholic Church saying that they should be allowed to police themselves on the issue of priests who have been guilty of sexually abusing children – the whole concept is utterly farcical and nobody in their right mind should ever entertain such a proposal.
Every single fleet director of every single airline in the world needs to see this documentary, before placing another order for an airliner.
Buy Airbus, Buy Embraer, Buy Bombardier but don’t buy Boeing!
As one of the chief engineers said at the beginning of this documentary it’s Corporate Thugs that are running Boeing these days.😡🤡☹😠
It makes you wonder how much money Boeing were shoving into Ali Bahrami’s bank account for all these fsvours.
Dreamliner ought to have been renamed Nightmare.
I understand the hate for Boeing & the Dreamliner here in the comments. With that said I recently rode on a United 787-10 Dreamliner N13013 from FRA-ORD and the Dreamliner is simply a Dream to fly on. I’ve also been on a Lufthansa A350 which was also a dream to ride in.
Amazing they had these issues, it was brought out in the open and they STILL let the MAX kill over 300 people…
this documentary is more relevant today! the full scale or Boeing’s mismanagement is well represented on 737 max program
737 Max 9 lost a Door at 10.000 Feet altitude… Wow. I’d take a seat in Airbus only
Dont fly a new boeing for the first 5 years.
9 years later. Boeing continue to impress. Another 737 max major incident. This video has already showed us the problem. Yet. No one took enough actions to stop the catastrophe
A redheaded woman as the head of the union predicts corruption. It is so wherever you find them, in politics, in the media and in commerce.
Boeing .. if it’s not catching fire it’s nose diving you into the ground or blowing plug doors off trying to suck you out.
The pressure bulkhead and door around misaligned drilling issue is probably next to come.
It shouldn’t be this hard to do the right thing. Man that cut me deep, I feel so bad for the whistle blower. This should not happen.
See article: “Boeing Charged with 737 Max Fraud Conspiracy and Agrees to Pay over $2.5 Billion”…..enough said.
Stay safe people. Fly Airbus.👍
Watching this just after the “door plug incident” on the Alaska 737 MAX-9, and knowing what had happened to the 737 MAX-8 with its MCAS surreal logic and its tragic consequences… incredible. This video was published nine years ago (at date). Incredible, indeed.
makes you wonder if it was much ado about nothing, eh? there haven’t been any 787 accidents.
@@skipbo7035 not to the 787 (well, apart from the battery incidents, one of which implied an emergency evacuation), but the point is that the video depicts issues with the whole Boeing company culture, that eventually gave its “best” some years later with the 737 MAX. Its -8 version crashed twice due to the famed MCAS (and arguably, more generally, due to Boeing’s hastiness to respond to the A320 NEO commercial threat with a competing aircraft) and its -9 version is not only losing plug doors mid-flight, but it’s showing so many assembly failures to prompt the FAA to designate a third party to carry out quality checks to Boeing, because it’s not satisfied any longer by Boeing’s capability to “check itself”. With all these loose bolts and a plug door flying a route of its own at 16,000 feet, no wonder why.
I watched this when it was published… absolutely unbelievable stuff. And nobody will be punished.
I guess much ado about nothing. Haven’t heard of any 787s crashing. We do tend to manufacture a problem when there isn’t necessarily one that exists don’t we? It’s what makes the media world go round. If there aren’t any problems there isn’t a story and if there isn’t a story then there’s no money.
I’m watching this after the Alaskan Airlines incident. Give me chills for sure.
Whatch this again after 737 max 9 door blew up
All these innocent passengers dying from Boeing planes and yet all these Boeing executives are getting away with murder. Shameless.
Ask yourself, would you buy a second hand car from these guys?
You’re not an embarrassment you’re an honourable, decent human being! So heartbreaking.
And now we’re here today with the 737 Max and all of its problems…..
Now Boeing can’t afford the cost of bolts for the door plugs on the Max because of people like Obama getting his gold watch Trump kick all the lobbyist out of DC just for this reason
Here we are 10 years later, two 737 MAX 8 aircraft have crashed a 737 MAX 9 has just lost a plug door mid air and manufacturing issues still continue to plague new aircraft deliveries.
And look at where we are now. it got even worse. If this keeps on going and it will be ongoing I give Boeing max 5 years till bankruptcy. From Boeing Max to Max 5 years
Welcome to “Boing Chinese airline ltd”.
Wow, I used to think it would be awesome to work for Boeing but not after this. As an engineer I’ll absolutely be avoiding them.
Nobody wanted to fly the original 747 either because it had so many different types of fasteners on it
And in 2024 could be the turning point forBoeing. Like a time bomb.