“Sabotage, Shoddy Maintenance?”: Questions Swirl As Aviation Incidents Spike This Week

A mid-air engine fire, a tire separating from the landing gear, several emergency landings—what the hell is happening in the aviation industry this week?

Here are the latest headlines: 

1. ZeroHedge (Tuesday): “Plane Was Nosediving”: United Airlines Boeing 737 Engine Erupts In Flames Over Texas
2. CBS News (Thursday): American Air jet clipped Frontier Jet on Miami International Airport tarmac
3. ZeroHedge (Friday): United’s Boeing 737 Max Jet Veers Off Runway In Houston, Marking Third Incident In Week
4. ZeroHedge (Friday): Tire Separates From Boeing 777, Crushes Cars In San Francisco Parking 
5. ABC7 News (Friday): SFO-MEX United flight makes emergency landing at LAX due to hydraulic failure: officials

US Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is silent on this week’s incidents. 

Some X users blame the series of aviation failures on the possibility of airline companies focusing on disastrous DEI policies.

Yet ANOTHER Boeing plane has had a near fatal problem in the air. The company is all aboard on DEI, so these problems are going to get worse. https://t.co/oI6RF06SUv

— Dr. Clayton Forrester (@DrClaytonForre1) March 7, 2024

So many DEI plane stories in the news today https://t.co/a8N9NqQN1o

— Salty OPS (@keegfish) March 8, 2024

Smfh.. Now we’re going to be dodging plane debris on the ground bc of DEI https://t.co/A6L6oPHrtW

— Atlas Shrugged (@saintlysinner5) March 7, 2024

Others ask the question: “Sabotage, shoddy maintenance, or other?” 

Engine fire
Runway mishap
Midair loss of tire
Emergency landing in Los Angeles
United Airlines is having a bad week.
Sabotage, shoddy maintenance, or other?
What’s going on at United?

— Dewey Harrison (@TruET1627) March 9, 2024

I’m starting to wonder if someone might be trying to sabotage Boeing?

United Boeing 737 Max suffers landing gear failure at Houston airport https://t.co/dXL4g8TW3t via @MailOnline

— Let Them Be Kids – 🇺🇲 (@DivineComity) March 9, 2024

United Airlines SFO incidents. Two days in a row. Sabotage?

— Mickey Dearborn (@DearbornMickey) March 9, 2024

Okay so is someone trying to sabotage Boeing planes or are they just falling apart on their own? Regardless I’m not flying United anytime soon. https://t.co/8OzSbikDnA

— Angeles Romero (@angeles524) March 9, 2024

What still haunts frequent flyers is the early January incident when a door plug ripped off the fuselage of a Boeing 737 Max. 

Meanwhile, on Saturday morning, NBC News quickly pushed out an article titled “Aviation incidents seem to be proliferating, but experts say there’s no reason for alarm,” which read like a damage control piece by the aviation industry to calm fears. 

“This is not a safety trend,” said John Cox, a pilot and the president and CEO of Safety Operating Systems LLC, of the recent spate of aviation incidents.

Let’s not forget the twin Boeing 737 disaster that killed 346 people five years ago.