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The Falling Shield: Boeing's Failing Craft of Engineering - A Report
- THE GEOSTRATA
- Aug 2
- 2 min read
On June 12, 2025, Air India Flight 171, piloted by a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, plummeted into an Ahmedabad residential neighbourhood just seconds after takeoff, killing nearly everyone on board. Not only was it the first Dreamliner crash to be fatal, but it was a crushing blow to the reputation of what had been one of the world's safest and most technologically sophisticated commercial jetliners.
Cover by The Geostrata
The flight recorders were recovered quickly, and investigators were able to begin reconstructing the final seconds of the doomed flight. Although the exact cause of the crash remains under investigation, this tragedy has already prompted a global reassessment of Boeing's safety procedures and manufacturing practices.
The Dreamliner, introduced in 2011, has boasted a remarkable safety record, flying over one billion passengers without losing even a single life for nearly 15 years. Behind this facade of safety, however, the plane series has been rocked by consistent technical and quality control problems, many of which were documented by whistleblowers and industry insiders well before the Ahmedabad tragedy.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner was initially greeted as an amazing technological achievement, with new materials, increased fuel efficiency, and a host of comforts designed with passengers in mind. Its electronic fly-by-wire flight control system, triple-redundant safety features, and composite fuselage were intended to create new standards for safety and dependability.
However, the Dreamliner's production was plagued by severe issues, including delays, cost overruns, and a controversial outsourcing strategy that sent production to a multitude of international suppliers.
The initial severe safety crisis occurred in 2013, when two Dreamliners suffered lithium-ion battery fires—one in Boston, one in Japan—prompting a global grounding of the fleet by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Boeing's rushed repairs and the FAA's rushed recertification allowed the aircraft to return to service within weeks, but the event exposed deep flaws in both the company's engineering protocols and the regulatory checks that were supposed to safeguard passengers.
Over the next few years, there was a succession of technical issues: generator failures, concerns about the fuselage's strength, and most critically, a March 2024 accident in which a LATAM Airlines 787-9 took a sudden vertical dive, injuring dozens of passengers. Each accident further undermined the Dreamliner's reputation as unstoppable and raised the question of whether Boeing's single-minded drive for efficiency and profitability was taking precedence over its commitment to safety.
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For all official and academic purposes, use the following as a citation, which follows the Chicago Manual Style.
Sauhardi Uniyal
“The Falling Shield”
THE GEOSTRATA, August 02, 2025.
BY SAUHARDI UNIYAL
CENTRE FOR LAW AND POLITICS
TEAM GEOSTRATA
Sauhardi,
Dear, Its a very well-defined, well narrated and appropriately illustrated article, covering many nuances of the Aircraft's credibility, built-in safety and proven track records over the years across the globe. GOOD WRITE UP.
However, the aspect of fuel cut off switches of both the engines “transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF position one after another with a time gap of 01 sec,” according to the report submitted by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau and whether the movement of switches was inadvertent or deliberate and their observation that, at the time the switches “transitioned” from RUN to CUTOFF position, the cockpit voice recording showed that “one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he cutoff. The other pilot…
Very well researched work, the conclusion doesn’t look implausible. Well done Sauhardi. Your writing style, structure and command are commendable. Keep up the good work. Looking forward for more!
Soha it's impressive 📈
Well written 👏
Very well written piece of work