‘I won’t fly on a 737 or 787’: Ex-Boeing manager flags deep safety failures, warns against blaming pilots

(FILES) The logo of Boeing is seen at the 55th International Paris Airshow at Le Bourget Airport near Paris, France, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

The fatal Air India Boeing 787-8 crash near Ahmedabad has reignited concerns over Boeing’s safety culture, with ex-manager Ed Pierson blaming production pressure, inconsistent quality, and regulatory failures for ongoing risks and calling for urgent reforms.

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The fatal aircraft crash near Ahmedabad earlier this year has once again pushed Boeing into the global spotlight, reviving long-standing concerns about whether production pressure inside the company has steadily weakened its safety culture. The June 12 accident involved an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner and reignited questions that have lingered since the twin 737 MAX disasters of 2018 and 2019.

For critics, the Ahmedabad crash is not an isolated tragedy but part of a wider pattern. At the centre of this debate is Ed Pierson, a former senior Boeing manager who worked for nearly a decade on the 737 and 787 programmes and now heads the Foundation for Aviation Safety. Speaking to Firstpost, Pierson described a manufacturing environment where speed often outweighed caution and warnings from the factory floor struggled to reach senior leadership.

“There was incredible pressure to get the work done,” Pierson said. “At Boeing, the saying was always that the schedule is king. On paper, safety and quality come first, but when you’re standing on the factory floor, it doesn’t always feel that way.”

Pierson said the problem was uneven leadership. Some teams refused to compromise on quality, while others cut corners to keep aircraft moving. That inconsistency, he argued, created dangerous gaps in safety standards.

He traced many of these issues to the early years of the 787 Dreamliner programme. According to him, senior executives were not told “the full truth” about conditions on the shop floor. Internal audits later exposed serious quality control failures, but by then flawed practices were already entrenched.

One practice Pierson highlighted was “out of sequence work.” Aircraft are meant to move through assembly only after each stage is complete. Instead, he said, planes often advanced despite missing parts or unfinished inspections.

“If parts weren’t available or quality checks weren’t complete, the plane still moved forward,” he explained. “When the parts finally arrived, workers had to rush, grab their tools, and squeeze the work in between other tasks. That’s downright dangerous.”

Referring to the Ahmedabad crash, Pierson pointed to familiar warning signs. These included long working hours, fatigue, and recurring technical problems involving flight control, electrical, hydraulic and pressurisation systems. He said functional tests were failing while supply chain disruptions forced rushed installations.

“These are human-built machines, and humans can make mistakes,” Pierson said. “But when people are exhausted and under extreme pressure, those mistakes can reach catastrophic levels.”

Pierson was also sharply critical of how the initial investigation was handled. “To be honest, the initial report was very poor,” he said. He noted that reports of a tail stabiliser alert were quickly dismissed and that only limited cockpit audio was released. Data from flight recorders and aircraft health systems were missing from early findings.

“Before anyone even thinks of blaming the pilots, who are no longer here to defend themselves, every technical aspect has to be examined thoroughly,” he said.

He also condemned early media reports suggesting pilot error. “In one word, it’s disgusting,” Pierson said. “The 787 is an electrical monster, incredibly complex. Systems can and do fail.”

Pierson criticised regulators, including the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board, saying they have grown too reliant on Boeing. He contrasted this with what he called the “commendable” intervention of the Indian Supreme Court in the Ahmedabad case.

At its core, Pierson insists Boeing’s crisis is cultural. “These aircraft will be flying for 30 years,” he said. “Human factors apply to everyone involved in building them.”

He warned that financial pressure is making matters worse. “If products are faulty, fix them first,” Pierson said. “Build planes to the highest quality standards. Denying problems doesn’t make them disappear.”

On accountability, his view was blunt. “This is gross negligence,” he said. “Pushing aircraft out the door to meet delivery targets, knowing there are safety risks, is criminal behavior.”

Asked if he would fly on a Boeing aircraft today, Pierson was clear. “No,” he said, ruling out both the 737 MAX and the 787 Dreamliner for now, until regulators act more decisively and safety truly comes first.