‘Downfall: The Case Against Boeing’ Review: Damning Aviation Doc Feeds Your Fear of Flying With
variety.comLisa Kennedy On Oct. 29, 2018, Indonesian carrier Lion Air’s Flight 610 crashed into the Java Sea shortly after takeoff. Nineteen weeks later, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, headed to Kenya, also crashed, leaving a deep gouge in a field near the Addis Abba Bole Airport.
All told, 346 passengers and crew were killed. Both planes were new Boeing 737-Maxes. “Downfall: The Case Against Boeing” — which premiered at the virtual Sundance Film Festival — is the riveting, often rending tale of those crashes and the jet that links them.With the eloquent testimony of family members; aviation industry experts; former Boeing engineers and quality control employees, plus a squadron of commercial airline pilots — including, arguably the nation’s most trusted, Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger — director Rory Kennedy not only builds a case against Boeing but offers an object lesson in the tragic consequences of corporate greed and hubris.
When Boeing unveiled the retooled 737 Max, it promised airlines that the tweaks would not be dramatic enough to require expensive pilot simulation training.
The airlines bit and bought an unprecedented number of jets. Both the airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration trusted Boeing. “Downfall” methodically shows why that confidence was misplaced.The documentary begins with an intentionally lulling prologue.
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