BOEING — How the World's Best Plane Maker Became a Death Trap

On January 5, 2024, a door plug blew off a Boeing 737 MAX 9 at 16,000 feet. Fifteen minutes into Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, four bolts — missing since maintenance at Boeing's factory — nearly killed everyone on board. What happened next revealed that the world's greatest aerospace company had been rotting from the inside for 25 years. This documentary traces Boeing's collapse from the 1997 merger that killed its engineering culture through the 737 MAX crashes that killed 346 people, the whistleblower found dead mid-testimony, the Starliner disaster that left astronauts stranded in space for 9 months, and the $35 billion financial implosion that proved safety was no longer Boeing's priority — profit was. Sources: 346 people killed in two 737 MAX crashes (Lion Air Flight 610, October 2018; Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, March 2019) Boeing paid $2.5 billion in criminal penalties (U.S. Department of Justice, 2021) John Barnett, Boeing whistleblower of 32 years, found dead March 9, 2024 during deposition against Boeing Barnett family settled a wrongful death lawsuit with Boeing (May 2025) Boeing lost $35 billion in market value since 2019 Boeing debt: $13B (2018) → $53B (2024) 17,000 layoffs announced late 2024 42% of Americans say they would not fly on a 737 MAX (January 2024 poll) Starliner astronauts stranded 9 months on ISS, returned by SpaceX Crew Dragon (February 2025) Boeing machinist strike: 53 days, September-November 2024 Chapters: 0:00 — The door that blew off at 16,000 feet 0:45 — How Boeing built the Moon 2:00 — The 737 MAX and the MCAS cover-up 4:00 — "Designed by clowns, supervised by monkeys" 5:15 — The whistleblower found dead 6:30 — SpaceX, Starliner, and NASA's humiliation 8:00 — What's left of Boeing Subscribe for weekly deep-dives into the rise and fall of the world's most powerful companies.Hashtags: #Boeing #737MAX #BoeingDocumentary #AviationDisaster #BusinessDocumentary #Boeing737 #Aerospace #Starliner #SpaceX #CorporateCollapse #JohnBarnett #Whistleblower #AlaskaAirlines #NASASpaceX #BoeingCollapse