The aircraft that fell on Thursday (12), shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad airport in India, was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner-the same model whose flaws were publicly reported by the mechanic Richard Cuevas in 2024. The accident involved 242 people on board, and local authorities already confirm more than 100 deaths.
Cuevas, which provided service to Strom – a company outsourced by Spirit Aerosystems, a Boeing provider – said he identified critical irregularities in the manufacture of 787 airplanes during the year 2023. According to him, Spirit factory technicians in Wichita (Kansas), perforations in the technical specifications in the front pressure bulkheads aircraft.
Ignored alerts
According to Cuevas, perforations were intentionally made to “clean excess ink and accelerate the production process”, which could compromise structural integrity and pressurization of aircraft during flight.
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The mechanic formally reported the risks to Boeing and Spirit in October 2023, but was fired months later. At the time, he estimated that between 10 and 12 aircraft could have been affected – three of which he himself had inspected.
In response, Boeing stated that it “took worries seriously” and conducted an internal investigation. Engineering analysis, according to the company, concluded that the reported problems “did not pose a risk to safety”. Spirit Aerosystems did not publicly comment on the case.
Accumulation of complaints
Cuevas’s warning adds to a series of complaints that in recent years have put Boeing under global pressure.
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Engineer Sam Salehpour had already pointed out the existence of “structural gaps” in models 787 and 777. Another former employee, John Barnett, who worked for more than three decades in the company, denounced deliberate flaws in the installation of parts and problems in the Dreamliners oxygen system-claiming that one in four masks could fail in an emergency.
The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recorded a significant increase in the number of internal reports related to Boeing: 126 cases were analyzed only in 2025, against 11 the previous year, according to Bloomberg.
Accident
The Air India aircraft was going to Gatwick airport in London when it fell into a residential area near the Indian terminal shortly after takeoff.
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In addition to the passengers on board – including 169 Indians, 53 British, seven Portuguese and one Canadian – the impact destroyed a doctors accommodation, where dozens of people were gathered for lunch.
The Minister of Health of India stated that there are “many dead” and that rescue work continues. So far, 100 bodies have been removed from the rubble, but there are still missing victims. Air India has stated that it is cooperating with investigations and that rescue teams were immediately mobilized.
The official cause of the fall will still be determined by Indian authorities and international aeronautical security agencies. However, the recent history of faults in industrial processes at Boeing tends to press investigations.
