Air India Plane Crash: Is Boeing The New Union Carbide?
The essay compares Boeing to Union Carbide, citing corporate negligence and impunity, drawing parallels between Boeing's 787 Dreamliner crash in Ahmedabad and Bhopal gas tragedy.
Sweeping questions are only appropriate when the risk of sounding prejudiced is negated by hard facts. Therefore, this essay will hope to adduce fact-driven evidence to justify the poser: Is Boeing the New Union carbide?
By way of explanation, the question is prompted by some stark similarities between the tragic events in Bhopal in 1984 and the stomach-churning crash of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner in Ahmedabad.
In both cases, the story didn't just remain focussed on technical failures but also brought renewed focus upon a culture of corporate impunity built on a sense of condescension for the law. This haughty disregard among the top brass at Union Carbide, the villain of Bhopal, and the Boeing corporation, the impugned in Ahmedabad, for regulations, was derived from the confidence that they were too big to be answerable to the law.
For those that may not be aware. In 1984, U.S. chemical manufacturing behemoth Union Carbide's negligence led to the Bhopal gas tragedy. Thousands were left dead, and many more were maimed for life. Safety systems had failed, warnings were ignored, and the Indian government struck a weak settlement that let the corporation walk away largely unscathed. Such was the glaring nature of the abdication that in the end it was left to the good offices of the Indian Supreme Court to ensure a modicum of justice.
Today, Boeing stands accused of relying on eerily similar tactics. Repeated whistleblower warnings about faulty production practices in the construction of civilian aircraft were either silenced or buried. The narrative is being mysteriously twisted to place blame on the doorstep of the pilots. Worse, regulatory bodies like the FAA, and by extension others like India's DGCA, have allowed Boeing to get away with self-certifying key aircraft systems. This dangerous leniency as investigations have shown contributed to the 737 MAX disasters. And who's to say now possibly even the Dreamliner crash as well?
Whistleblowers like Ed Pierson, Sam Salehpour and the late John Barnett were sidelined or worse. The media in the U.S., too, often treats Boeing's failures as unfortunate glitches rather than systemic breakdowns. This has been well documented by the Columbia Journalism Review, 2021 in the study 'How the Press Missed the Boeing Story".
This is not to say that the Modi-led NDA or the Indian media is about to compromise the interests of the victims by not seeking justice. This is only to point out that the Indian government and its ideological cohorts in the media, perhaps in their zeal to push the pedal on modernisation and economic activity, have forgotten that the people are not just passengers in the development journey but also stakeholders.
What Boeing Said On Air India Flight Crash
US planemaker Boeing has said it was ready to support Air India following the crash.
'We are in contact with Air India regarding Flight 171 and stand ready to support them," said a Boeing statement. 'Our thoughts are with the passengers, crew, first responders and all affected."
Boeing President and CEO Kelly Ortberg had said, 'Our deepest condolences go out to the loved ones of the passengers and crew on board Air India Flight 171, as well as everyone affected in Ahmedabad. I have spoken with Air India Chairman N. Chandrasekaran to offer our full support, and a Boeing team stands ready to support the investigation led by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau."
First Published:
June 16, 2025, 20:22 IST
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