Thread by @willjordan

THREAD.

Nearly five years ago we at @AJIunit broke the story of serious safety and quality concerns expressed by Boeing engineers working on the 787 Dreamliner.

aljazeera.com/investigations…

We gathered footage in the new Charleston factory where 10 of 15 workers asked said they would not fly on the 787. One - "because I see the quality of the fucking shit going on around here." Also claims of drug abuse.

aljazeera.com/investigations…

We included testimony from John Woods, a whistleblower whose life had been thrown into turmoil by what he claimed was retaliatory action for his being scrupulous in quality control.

aljazeera.com/investigations…

We obtained a memo that showed what its source said was Boeing changing "basic engineering principles to meet schedule."

"We all protested," said the engineer. "It fell on deaf ears."

aljazeera.com/investigations…

Then on Sunday, the @nytimes and journalist @Nataliekitro published what they said was an "exclusive" story on the front page of the paper, revealing absolutely the same concerns we had reported nearly five years earlier.

They also produced a podcast with Kitroeff exclaiming that this was "an entirely new narrative we never expected to find." Really? They could have found that narrative on aljazeera.com where a documentary featured remarkably similar soundbites and structure.

One interesting thing NYT reported was that "Qatar Airways stopped accepting planes from the factory after manufacturing mishaps damaged jets and delayed deliveries..."

Nearly 5 years earlier we reported that "one of the customers has said they will no longer accept planes from Charleston due to quality issues."

aljazeera.com/investigations…

The customer was @qatarairways but despite having numerous sources, @BoeingAirplanes and Qatar denied what we had been told, so on legal advice we did not name the buyer. Now it appears the denials were not based in fact. I have asked both about this and am awaiting responses.

The film has had over 3 million views, was a finalist for an IRE Medal in the US, won the AIB Award in the UK, and was nominated for an RTS Award. It did not just slip by unnoticed, especially at Boeing, where it went viral there and caused a scandal.

We followed up later with more FAA documents showing whistleblowers complaining of "undue pressure" to approve designs and parts before they felt ready.

aljazeera.com/news/2016/06/r…

We then published 3 extra stories:

1. Flawed FAA redactions expose Boeing 787 whistleblower
aljazeera.com/news/2016/06/f…

2. Boeing stymied staff from talking to regulators
aljazeera.com/news/2016/06/b…

3. FAA tries 'driving a stake' through reporter's heart
aljazeera.com/blogs/americas…

So why, if NYT was trying to marshal all the evidence that "the 787 Dreamliner, has been plagued by shoddy production and weak oversight that have threatened to compromise safety," did it not mention the most clear evidence available? An explicable oversight, I am sure.

As my colleague on this project @kdhirten points out, if the NYT wanted to learn about this, they could have just read the review in their own newspaper.

nytimes.com/2014/09/10/art…