The Virus That Infected Boeing (Patreon)

The Virus That Infected Boeing

On May 25th, 1979, an engine fell off an airplane leaving Chicago O'Hare. Thirty-one seconds later, 273 people were dead. American Airlines Flight 191 was the deadliest commercial aviation accident in American history. Investigators would ultimately blame maintenance, but the inquiry also exposed design vulnerabilities specific to the DC-10. And those vulnerabilities weren't accidental. They were the result of deliberate choices, made not by engineers, but by executives who had prioritized profit above all else. It was a dangerous philosophy that didn't end with the DC-10. It traveled through boardrooms, mergers, and decades of decisions, until it found its way into the most successful aerospace company in history.