Aircraft giant Boeing saw its shares tumble more than eight per cent at the start of trading in New York following the Air India plane crash in India.
The aircraft involved was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, and the Air India crash is the first time it has come down like this.
The model was launched 14 years ago. Just six weeks ago, Boeing lauded the fact that it had reached the milestone of carrying one billion passengers.
In a statement, Boeing said: “We are in contact with Air India regarding Flight 171 and stand ready to support them. Our thoughts are with the passengers, crew, first responders and all affected.”
The crash comes as the company last month agreed to pay $1.1bn in a deal with the US Department of Justice to avoid prosecution over two fatal crashes of its 737 Max model in 2018 and 2019 that together killed 346 people.
Today’s incident marks the first time a Boeing 787 has crashed but new chief executive Kelly Ortberg is expected to face scrutiny over years of safety crises that have surrounded the company.
A lawyer for 16 families of the victims of a fatal Boeing 737 Max crash, told the BBC last week that a deal between the aviation giant and the US Justice Department (DOJ) is “morally repugnant”.
Sanjiv Singh, counsel for family members of some of the victims of a 2018 crash in Indonesia, said the deal allows the firm to “sidestep true criminal accountability”.
