By Abby Hsu ’25, News Section Editor

Image of a plane from Japan Airlines catching on fire (Photo courtesy of CBS News.)

The Southwest Boeing 737 aircraft was already at 32,000 feet in the air, en route to Dallas, Texas. Jennifer Riordan sat in her coveted window seat, spreading the blanket across her legs. She had an ice-cold Coke sitting on her tray table while she was getting ready to pick a movie for the five-hour flight. Suddenly, the malfunctions in the engine caused debris to slam against the window. The window shattered, and the immediate decompression of the cabin pulled Riordan partway through the opening. Though passengers attempted to haul her back into the aircraft, she later died; seven other passengers were injured. 

Unfortunately, the tragedy that occurred on the 2018 Southwest flight is just one instance among many Boeing 737 Max malfunctions. Boeing first began construction on the Max aircrafts in 2011, as a response to their rival, Airbus, and its new, fuel-efficient aircraft model. However, when Boeing executives decided to update their aircrafts, they did not retrain their pilots and upgrade the training manuals. By minimizing short-term costs, Boeing lost millions of dollars of revenue in the long term. 

Over the past few years, Boeing 737 Max aircrafts have been under scrutiny. In 2019, Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 plunged near Jakarta after only six minutes of airtime, killing 157 passengers. After months of investigation, it was discovered that the angle of attack (AOA) sensor heater failed, providing inaccurate values that caused the plane to tip downwards. Following this crash, the entire fleet of Boeing 737 Max aircrafts were grounded for almost two years. 

The Boeing 737 Max started flying again in January 2023. There seemed to be no major malfunctions until January 5, 2024, when a door plug fell off of the Boeing 737 Max 9; the entire door of the plane proceeded to fall off as well. The door plugs were not wired to the control panel to alert the crew of a pressure problem, so the crew was not immediately aware of this malfunction. Thankfully, there were no people sitting in seats 26a and 26b, the two seats directly next to the blown-out door. John Nance, an ABC News aviation analyst, stated that it was “miraculous” that no one was injured.

Boeing is not the only company experiencing airplane malfunctions. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, there have been 25 airplane malfunctions worthy of investigation in just February 2024 alone, including the engine of the Piper PA-28 failing, the single-engine Cessna’s emergency landing in California, and the Cirrus SR20 crashing in Florida. Beyond engineering issues, there are other problems behind these airplane malfunctions.  Across the nation, there has been a shortage of airplane pilots, resulting in an exhausted and demoralized workforce that is prone to making dangerous mistakes. 

So what’s the conclusion? Should we be scared of flying? Matt Herbert ‘25 noted that he is not worried about flying, as he trusts the regulations put in place for Boeing flights. He believes, however, that airplane manufacturers need to “place a larger emphasis on production quality rather than quantity.” On the other hand, recent events have caused Elle Gjivoje ‘26 to become more worried about flying. Elle noted that if airlines were “more transparent with passengers on certain protocols and preparations,” then they could ensure “mental and physical safety.” Similarly, Joanna Yu ‘25 believes that the safety videos shown before flights take off should be more intriguing and interesting to draw the attention of all the passengers.

Airlines need to re-investigate their aircrafts — even if they are not reported as faulty — to ensure passenger safety. As scientists and engineers discover groundbreaking innovations, there will surely be a way to make our flights safer for years to come.