APRIL on:

April 4

Alaska Airlines announced that they had received $160 million in compensation from Boeing after their 737 Max 9s were grounded following the January 5 door blowout.

The amount was equal to the revenue lost according to a filing from the airline, but Alaska added that it anticipated receiving extra compensation too.

April 10

Another whistleblower, Sam Salehpour, came forward to Boeing of taking shortcuts when building its 777 and 787 Dreamliner jets and added that the company had retaliated against him when he raised concerns.

He doubled down on the claims a week later, adding on NBC that 787s should be grounded fearing 'fatal flaws' which could case them to fall apart mid-air.

In a 1,500 word statement, Boeing said it was 'fully confident' in the 787 and called concerns about structural integrity 'inaccurate.'

April 26

Delta flight 520 was forced to make an emergency landing at JFK Airport when an emergency slide fell off the Boeing 767 an hour into its journey to Los Angeles.

FAA records indicated that the plane was 33 years old.

April 30

A second whistleblower, Joshua Dean, died suddenly aged 45 having raised the alarm about supposed defects in 737 Max jets.

The former Spirit employee previously said he was fired from his quality auditing role for questioning standards at the supplier's plant in Wichita, Kansas, in October 2022.

His family said on social media that Dean died in hospital after a sudden illness.

Earlier in 2024, Dean spoke with NPR about being fired. 'I think they were sending out a message to anybody else. If you are too loud, we will silence you,' he said.

May 22

'I thought it was the end': Passengers on Qatar Airways rocked by turbulence approaching Dublin say flight attendants were injured and sent into air

A 73-year-old British man was killed on a Boeing 777-300ER after extreme turbulence caused pandemonium in the cabin forcing pilots to make an emergency landing.

The aircraft journeying from London to Singapore with 221 passengers as well as 18 crew members descended 6,000 metres in five minutes.

The brutal turbulence caused pure chaos in the cabin with some blacking out after being thrown around.

Geoffrey Kitchen, 73, who was travelling to his son's wedding abroad, suffered a fatal heart attack during the ordeal, whilst seven others are fighting for their lives.

Upwards of 80 people were injured during the extreme turbulence which left the cabin showered in debris and terrified passengers desperately trying to stop blood flowing from severe cuts and blunt force injuries

May 26

Eight people were taken to hospital - and 12 were injured in total - after a Qatar Airways flight experienced extreme turbulence on its approach to Dublin airport.

Terrified passengers detailed how flight attendants were tossed into the air hitting the ceiling of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

'There was panic, the look of panic everywhere,' passenger Emma Rose Power said.

'Some of the flight attendants had scratches to their face, ice to their face... one girl had a sling on her arm.'

Another traveller named Eileen described her horrifying experience, as her partner Tony was forced to hold her down to prevent her from being launched out of her chair.

Eileen has been sleeping without her seat belt on.

A teary-eyed Eileen shared: ''It was so scary... I am not in a hurry to get back on a plane I can tell you.'