Investors in aerospace stock Boeing (BA) are watching, and quite carefully, for any news about the Air India disaster, and with good reason. This has a very real potential to hurt Boeing going forward. And when reports emerged that the crash was caused by a “faulty pilot’s seat,” the notion of finally having an answer to what caused this latest horror was shocking to say the least. Then the debunkers got involved, and that proved welcome enough for Boeing investors. Said investors gave Boeing a boost, sending shares up around 2% in Thursday afternoon’s trading.
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Reports emerged noting that the “Air India Boeing 787 crash that killed 270 people,” was caused by a “faulty locking mechanism” in the captain’s seat. Apparently, the report noted, when this happened, the pilot accidentally pulled the throttle levers to idle when he slid backward, and an attempt to recover from the co-pilot was, somehow “…blocked by the captain’s reclined position.” The plane, the report noted, then “…caused the plane to stall and crash into a nearby building….”
On the surface, this might mesh well with what we know, especially with reports about the plane’s Ram Air Turbine (RAT) deploying, which suggests a loss of power. And several other reports went with this data as well. But other reports, including one from Digiteye India, consider this a “misrepresentation.” The report notes that no “preliminary report” has yet been issued, certainly not one that cites seating errors as a cause. Digiteye also suggests that the reports of seat failure are being conflated with a LATAM Airlines flight from March 2024 in which something similar actually did take place.
Calling In Some Help
Meanwhile, Boeing—seeking to avoid another black eye in the making—is looking to get its Air Force One development up and running faster. In aid of that, Boeing has called in Steve Sullivan, former Northrup Grumman (NOC) strike division vice president and division leader of the group that came up with the B-2 bomber.
Sullivan will now lead the VC-25B program, taking over for Greg Coffey, who now will be tasked with the air dominance division at Boeing and developing the next Air Force training jet of choice. Sullivan will have quite a task on his hands as the plane in question is now at least one entire presidential administration overdue. Given that reports put the plane out for a delivery date of somewhere between 2027 and 2029, anything Sullivan can do to speed up the process will likely prove welcome.
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 8.98% rally in its share price over the past year, the average BA price target of $221.56 per share implies 9.38% upside potential.
