October 13, 2005

Hundreds of Boeing jets may be unsafe. So why are they still flying?

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Just posted at Mother Jones: Flight Risk, by Sheila Kaplan

Documents made public in a whistleblower lawsuit filed against Boeing suggest that thousands of unsafe and unapproved parts have been installed on hundreds of commercial jets the company produced between 1994 and 2004.

The scope of the Wichita, Kansas, federal case—which focuses on parts supplied by Carson, California-based Ducommun—is limited to jets built for the government, but Mother Jones has found that the alleged flaws could threaten at least 1,600 commercial airplanes manufactured between 1994 and 2004, many of which are still flying. The suit alleges that Boeing knew the Ducommun parts were faulty but used them anyway.

Read the story–the first in a series–at motherjones.com.

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We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

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