Shares in aircraft manufacturer Boeing fell by 8% in pre-market U.S. trading on Thursday following the crash of an Air India 787-8 Dreamliner carrying 242 passengers, shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad, in western India. According to India’s federal health minister, the crash claimed “many lives”. The aircraft was en route to Gatwick Airport in the UK, with local police confirming it came down in a civilian area near Ahmedabad airport.
The fatal incident casts a shadow over the Dreamliner’s safety reputation and may hinder Boeing’s efforts to restore confidence in its safety standards and boost output under new Chief Executive Kelly Orthberg. The cause of the crash has not yet been determined. Boeing released a statement confirming it was aware of initial reports and is working to collect further details. Although earlier battery issues had previously grounded 787 aircraft, this marks the first fatal crash involving the modern wide-body jet.
Boeing has already endured years of scrutiny and production setbacks linked to its 737 MAX narrow-body aircraft, which was grounded globally after two deadly crashes. Shares in Spirit AeroSystems, a major supplier, and GE Aerospace, which manufactures engines for the aircraft, also dropped by around 4%. GE Aerospace announced on platform X that its emergency response team had been deployed and that it would assist with the investigation, though it did not confirm whether its engines were installed on the crashed Air India jet.
