Boeing Stock (NYSE:BA) Plummets in Wake of Air India Disaster

If there was one thing that aerospace stock Boeing (BA) absolutely did not need right now, it was to have its name connected with the word “disaster.” Sadly for all concerned, that is exactly what happened as Air India Flight 171 crashed not long after takeoff. Since Air India Flight 171 was a Boeing plane, that only made matters worse for Boeing. Frightened investors pulled back, and Boeing shares plunged nearly 5% in Thursday afternoon’s trading.

No one is sure just why the jet crashed shortly after takeoff, though some reports noted that the plane’s landing gear was down at the time to the point that it looked like the plane was coming in for a landing rather than just taking off. But what is known is that there were 242 passengers and crew aboard that flight, and there were no survivors.

The flight from Ahmedabad to London took off around 1:37 PM local time, reports noted, and investigation has already begun into the cause of the jet’s crash. The United States is actually sending a team out under the auspices of the National Transportation Safety Board, though India—being the country where the crash happened—will be leading the investigation.

The Particularly Strange Part

Perhaps the oddest part about this whole tragic affair is the plane itself. This was not another incident involving a 737 Max, reports note. Rather, this was a 787 Dreamliner that went down. This represents the first such incident in Boeing’s history, reports note, and the history on the Dreamliner goes all the way back to 2011. You read that right: roughly 14 years of service and not a single fatal crash. Until today.

Moreover, Boeing has sold over 2,500 of these planes so far, and has delivered 1,189 of them. Air India made 47 of those purchases itself. There were some issues with the Dreamliner, reports noted; back in July 2013, one caught fire on the ground after an Emergency Locator Transmitter short-circuited. Plus, 2013 also saw two planes’ lithium batteries overheat, which prompted an entire change in design philosophy. The latest such incident hit last year when a 787 lost altitude abruptly, though the investigations focused on “…an involuntary forward movement in the pilot seat.”

Is Boeing a Good Stock to Buy Right Now?

Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on BA stock based on 16 Buys, three Holds and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 18.43% rally in its share price over the past year, the average BA price target of $220.95 per share implies 8.31% upside potential.

See more BA analyst ratings

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