New Netflix Doc ‘Downfall’ Investigates Boeing Crashes and Corporate Greed

The crash of two new Boeing airplanes exposes the aviation company’s history of corporate greed in the trailer for Downfall: The Case Against Boeing, a new documentary coming to Netflix on Feb. 18.

The film investigates the crashes of Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, both involving Boeing’s then-new MAX 737 aircrafts. “Two crashes of brand new airplanes within five months of each other, that doesn’t happen in modern aviation,” someone states in the trailer.

Downfall director Rory Kennedy said in a statement to Rolling Stone, “Like so many people around the world, I was hit hard by news of the crash of Lion Air Flight 610. It was just devastating. Then five months later, the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302. It was difficult to process, to understand. It soon became clear that a larger story linked the two. 346 lives had been lost — how had these crashes been allowed to happen?”

Boeing quickly blamed the crashes on pilot error, but it was later uncovered that a design flaw overlooked by the airplane manufacturers was at fault, which Boeing attempted to hide from the survivors of the crashes and the general public.

“I wanted to talk to the people who were on the front lines of these tragedies — Boeing employees, FAA inspectors, commercial pilots, journalists, congressional investigators, and victims’ family members,” Kennedy added. “Downfall is the story of one corporation making irresponsible and ultimately deadly choices in the name of bigger profits and faster production cycles. It’s also a broader reflection on American corporate culture in the 21st century, and on America itself — our priorities, our goals, ourselves.”

Following its recent premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, Downfall: The Case Against Boeing will arrive on the streaming service on Feb. 18.