Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing, Rory Kennedy's 93-minute Netflix documentary, accuses Boeing of reinstalling parts marked as scrap and sidelining safety in pursuit of profit. Former quality managers and factory workers featured in the film say whistleblowers were retaliated against, and some employees say they would not fly on planes they helped build. The film revisits the January 2024 Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 door-plug incident and notes the Justice Department's roughly $1.1 billion settlement with Boeing, which includes fines, victim compensation and funding for safety and compliance reforms.
New Netflix Doc Alleges Boeing Reused 'Scrapped' Parts, Raising Safety Concerns
"Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing," a sequel to Rory Kennedy's 2022 documentary, "Downfall: The Case Against Boeing,"premieres on Netflix on Aug. 19.
Filmmaker Rory Kennedy continues her investigation into Boeing with Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing, a 93-minute documentary arriving on Netflix on Aug. 19. The film, a follow-up to 2022's Downfall: The Case Against Boeing, revisits the 2018 and 2019 737 MAX crashes and presents new allegations that the company prioritized profits over passenger safety.
Allegations From Former Employees
The documentary features current and former employees from Boeing's 787 Dreamliner factory in Charleston, South Carolina, who say they would not feel safe flying on the planes they helped build. In the trailer, longtime Boeing quality manager Merle Meyers — who worked at the company from 1979 until 2023 — says, "I found that scrapped parts were put back on the airplane for years and years. They were basically rotted. We'll never know how many of these parts made it to airplanes."
Whistleblowers and Retaliation
Several insiders who raised safety concerns tell the film they faced retaliation. One former employee alleges his tire was slashed as an intimidation tactic. The documentary highlights a continuing stream of whistleblowers inspired by John Barnett, a longtime Boeing quality manager who publicly raised safety issues for years.
"When the quality of Boeing suffers, people die," says New York Times journalist David Gelles in the trailer.
Notable Incidents Featured
Freefall revisits the January 2024 emergency landing of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, which lost a door plug while climbing to about 16,000 feet. A passenger in the film recounts putting on an oxygen mask and finding no airflow; other passengers are shown sending farewell messages. Pilots landed the plane and there were no fatalities.
On Jan. 5, 2024, Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 lost part of its fuselage.
Former Boeing quality investigators featured in the film, including Sam Mohawk and Roy Irvin, say they had raised concerns internally and were not surprised by such incidents.
Justice Department Settlement
The documentary appears against the backdrop of a May settlement between Boeing and the U.S. Department of Justice. Boeing agreed to a package of measures and payments totaling roughly $1.1 billion, including a $243.6 million fine, hundreds of millions to a victims' fund, and additional funds earmarked for strengthening the company's compliance, safety and quality programs, according to the Justice Department.
Responses and Context
USA TODAY has contacted Boeing for comment on the allegations presented in Freefall. The film adds to an ongoing public debate about manufacturing oversight, whistleblower protections and airline safety procedures.
Freefall centers the perspectives of those who worked inside Boeing and of passengers directly affected by safety failures, making the film both an investigative report and a cautionary account about industrial safety and corporate accountability.
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