I just watched the new Netflix documentary about the Boeing 737 MAX, and my gosh…
“Downfall: The Case Against Boeing” now on Netflix
A new aviation documentary recently started streaming on Netflix, called “Downfall: The Case Against Boeing.” You can see a trailer for it below.
The roughly 90 minute documentary is directed by Rory Kennedy. It provides background on the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX crashes that eventually caused the plane to be grounded globally. It also interviews aviation experts, pilots, former Boeing employees, families of the crash victims (even the wife of the Lion Air 610 captain), and Representative Peter DeFazio, who headed up the congressional investigation into the Boeing 737 MAX.
If you haven’t seen this documentary, I’d highly recommend watching it.
My take on the Boeing 737 MAX documentary
First of all, this documentary is incredibly well done. It’s both concise and thorough. Even if you had never heard of the Boeing 737 MAX, you’d be totally up to speed by the time that you’re done watching this. Those who closely followed the events that occurred with the Boeing 737 MAX will appreciate how well this summarizes the events, and the interviews really add some valuable context to the situation.
This documentary is damning beyond words when it comes to Boeing’s reputation. Even though I was familiar with just about all of the individual details presented in this documentary, watching this made me angry all over again.
The documentary does a great job not just talking about the current state of Boeing, but also talking about how Boeing’s culture has shifted over time, especially following the 1997 merger with McDonnell Douglas.
As is unfortunately the case with so many companies, Boeing’s only focus seemed to be on profits, and more accurately, short term stock price. Watching this documentary almost makes me never want to fly a Boeing aircraft again on principle (which I’m of course not going to do, but…).
If I had one criticism of the documentary, it’s that I don’t think it does enough to address the FAA’s role in all of this. Yes, Boeing withheld information from the FAA, but why was a regulatory agency essentially operating on an honor system for something this important?
Bottom line
There’s a new Netflix documentary about the Boeing 737 MAX, and it’s both fascinating and infuriating. Whether you’re an aviation geek or just like investigative-style shows, I’d highly recommend watching this. Just try to keep your blood pressure under control, because you may be furious by the time that it’s done.
If you watched this Boeing 737 MAX documentary, what did you think of it, and what was your takeaway?
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