A seasoned airline pilot with over 16 years of experience has sharply criticized Boeing’s safety culture following the recent Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner crash in Ahmedabad. While investigations are ongoing—early indications suggest a possible dual engine failure—the pilot claims Boeing’s legacy of secrecy and corner-cutting continues to endanger lives.
The pilot, based in Narendra Nagar, Nagpur, has flown for IndiGo, AirAsia, and international airlines since 2008, logging over 11,000 hours. He requested anonymity due to potential backlash.
“Every time a Boeing crashes, they blame the pilot—especially if he’s not white,” he said, referencing the 737 MAX disasters in 2018 and 2019. “We were never told about MCAS. That system hijacked the aircraft. We never stood a chance.”
While he clarified the Ahmedabad incident isn’t linked to MCAS, he sees a common thread: a corporate culture that hides flaws. “Even the Dreamliner had battery fires, fuselage defects—problems they downplayed. We trust engineering; we aren’t trained to doubt it,” he said.
He also condemned Boeing’s racially biased narrative. “If the pilot isn’t American, suddenly it’s always pilot error.”
Recalling when President Trump grounded the 737 MAX in 2019, he added, “If the U.S. President had to step in, you know it’s rotten at the core.”
His final warning: “If Boeing doesn’t start listening to pilots, they’re not making planes—they’re building coffins.”
Before Ahmedabad: Nagpur’s Long-Forgotten Flight Disasters
As the Air India incident in Ahmedabad raises fresh concerns over flight safety, attention is turning to Nagpur — a city with a long, haunting history of aviation tragedies that were once national headlines, but are now largely forgotten.
On February 2, 1955, a Douglas C-47 (VT-CVB) crashed just two minutes after takeoff from Runway 09 at Nagpur Airport, killing all 10 on board. The pilot, despite over 5,800 flight hours, attempted a sharp turn in darkness and stalled mid-air.
Just two years earlier, in December 1953, another C-47 (VT-CHF) crashed after takeoff, likely due to a false engine fire alert that led to an abrupt maneuver. Thirteen of the 14 passengers and crew died.
In 1952, a DC-3 (VT-AXE) on approach crashed after hitting trees short of the runway — the result of a wrong altimeter setting that misjudged altitude. Three were killed, including both pilots.
Tragedy struck again in 1961 when a cargo Douglas C-54 crash-landed near Nagpur after engine failure. Though all three crew survived, the plane was destroyed. In 1966, another DC-3 skidded off the runway in a storm and was written off.
Each crash had a different cause — instrument errors, mechanical failure, poor weather — but the pattern is striking.
As investigations unfold in the Ahmedabad crash, Nagpur’s own aviation past is a sobering reminder that flight safety has always come at a steep cost — and history shouldn’t be ignored.
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