Long list of defects Not only the "Dreamliner" is a nightmare airplane for Boeing

The crash of an Air India plane with at least 265 fatalities is also bad news for the aircraft manufacturer. Once again. The manufacturer of the 787 "Dreamliner" that crashed is the US company Boeing.

At least 265 people have died in a plane crash in India. The Air India plane crashed in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad on Thursday. The plane involved in the accident was a Boeing 787, known as the "Dreamliner".

Even though the cause has not yet been determined, the crash is also terrible news for the US manufacturer. Yet another Boeing aircraft has been involved in a disaster. This has happened more often recently.

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Boeing has regularly made negative headlines in recent years, especially with the 737 Max. One of the planes crashed in Indonesia in 2018 and another in Ethiopia in 2019, killing 346 people in both accidents. The cause was a sensor that delivered faulty readings and pushed the nose down so that the pilots were unable to regain control.

After a worldwide grounding of aircraft of this type was lifted, problems remained. Sometimes an emergency exit detached from the fuselage during the flight, sometimes an aircraft lost a nose wheel, sometimes smoke developed in the cockpit, sometimes aircraft caught fire after landing. Loss of pressure in the cabin, fuel leaks ... the list of technical problems could go on and on. Almost all Boeing models are affected.

"Dreamliner" with nightmare list of defects

Although the crash in India was the first involving a 787, Boeing's "Dreamliner" also has a long history of breakdowns. Yet the wide-body aircraft is comparatively young. It came onto the market in 2009 - as a fuel-saving model for long-haul flights, so to speak.

Thanks to a new type of construction and the use of carbon fiber and aluminum, fuel consumption was reduced. The airlines saved millions on kerosene, but also had to put up with a series of breakdowns - which led to all Dreamliners being temporarily grounded worldwide in 2013 because the batteries overheated and in some cases caused fires.

The 787 was the first commercial aircraft to use lithium-ion batteries on a large scale, which are lighter, can be recharged faster and can store more energy than other battery types. However, they are also more flammable. In addition, the wiring in some aircraft was faulty.

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Pilot seats have also malfunctioned: This is why in 2024 a 787 over Australia plummeted more than 90 meters within a few seconds. Around 40 passengers were injured, some of them seriously.

Once the reputation is ruined ...

Once the global market leader, Boeing's business is no longer doing so well. In 2024, the company recorded a loss of 11.8 billion dollars, bringing its total losses since 2019 to more than 35 billion dollars.

The financial problems were exacerbated by a strike by the workforce that assembles the airplanes at the factories in Renton and Everett, Washington. Production at these facilities came to a halt, affecting Boeing's ability to deliver.

The stricter government control and the workers' strike caused Boeing's airplane deliveries to plummet in 2024. Boeing stated that it had delivered 348 passenger aircraft. This is a third less than the 528 it reported for the previous year and less than half of the 766 aircraft that main competitor Airbus delivered in 2023.

In the first quarter of 2025, things went better again: losses fell to 31 million dollars. CEO Kelly Ortberg saw the company on the right track. As recently as May, Boeing received major orders from two customers in the Middle East worth 96 billion dollars - the largest order for 787 and wide-body aircraft in the company's history.

With material from the AP news agency.