Aircraft manufacturer Boeing is under intense scrutiny, and its production process is under investigation as several planes experience malfunctions.
The latest incident saw 50 people injured on a LATAM Airlines flight from Sydney to Auckland on Monday when the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner dropped midair and flung passengers from their seats.
It followed an incident in January when the door of an Alaska Air 737 flew off mid-flight. This incident is being investigated by the US's Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.
The New Zealand Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) has confirmed the incident involving the LATAM flight occurred in international airspace and Chile will take the lead on the investigation.
Speaking to Breakfast this morning, Aviation Projects managing director Keith Tonkin said Boeing is making headlines for the “wrong reasons” and would be under pressure following the LATAM incident.
“There have been some pretty interesting incidents recently, and there is a lot of reporting,” he said.
“And I think there is some genuine concern and some reasonable concern being expressed about the incidents.”
He said that while the incidents are “relatively simple” and “not connected”, the travelling public is keen to know they’re safe when flying.
“Because we’re hearing so many of these incidents being reported at the moment, we might have some elevated concern.”
So, are Boeing planes still safe to fly?
Tonkin said that while there have been several public incidents involving Boeing aircraft, they are still safe because of the industry’s high level of regulation.
Tonkin said the airlines would be scrambling to ensure incidents like those seen recently won’t happen again.
“We’re having some incidents where that safety is not being achieved, and we want to try and make that right again,” he said.
Tonkin said that if passengers are feeling anxious about their safety, it’s good to do a bit of research about who they’re flying with.
“The main thing is to be aware of who you’re travelling with,” he said. “And what sort of aircraft you’re flying with and have a thought for your own safety while you are doing that.”
When asked if airlines should consider switching manufacturers, Tonkin said that while Boeing is likely not seeing as many orders for new planes, they will remain in airlines’ fleets.
“There’s a very considerable investment in time and resources and systems to have an aircraft type being operated by an airline.”
“Unless there’s a really compelling reason to change, we don’t expect that to happen in the near future,” he said.
Following yesterday’s incident, Boeing said: “We are working to gather more information about the flight and will provide any support needed by our customer.”
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