The Trump Administration officially accepted a Boeing 747-8 luxury jetliner valued at approximately $400-500 million from the government of Qatar on May 21, 2025, to serve as a new Air Force One presidential aircraft. The acceptance of what Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer characterized as …
Donald TrumpQatarSheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al ThaniChuck SchumerPam Bondi+9 moreemolumentsbriberycorruptionforeign-influencenational-security+9 more
The Department of Justice notified Boeing and the federal court that Boeing breached its January 2021 deferred prosecution agreement by failing to maintain the required compliance and ethics program. The finding came after the January 5, 2024 Alaska Airlines door plug blowout revealed that Boeing …
Department of JusticeBoeingFederal District CourtCriminal Division Fraud Section346 crash victims' familiesboeingdojdeferred-prosecutionalaska-airlinesdoor-plug+2 more
Joshua Dean, a 45-year-old former quality auditor at Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems who had raised safety concerns about 737 MAX manufacturing defects, died suddenly after contracting a severe MRSA infection. Dean had been in good health and was known for maintaining a healthy lifestyle, making …
Joshua DeanSpirit AeroSystemsBoeingJohn Barnettboeingspirit-aerosystemswhistleblowerjoshua-deansuspicious-death+1 more
John Barnett, a 32-year Boeing quality control manager and prominent whistleblower who had raised numerous safety concerns about the 787 Dreamliner, was found dead from a gunshot wound to the head in his truck in a hotel parking lot in Charleston, South Carolina. He was in Charleston for deposition …
John BarnettBoeingCharleston County CoronerCharleston Police DepartmentFederal Aviation Administration+1 moreboeingwhistleblowerjohn-barnettsuspicious-death787-dreamliner+1 more
A door plug blew out of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, a Boeing 737 MAX 9, at 16,000 feet during climb six minutes after takeoff from Portland, Oregon. The explosive decompression ripped the door plug from the fuselage, leaving a gaping hole in the aircraft. Miraculously, all 171 passengers and 6 crew …
Alaska AirlinesBoeingSpirit AeroSystemsFederal Aviation AdministrationNational Transportation Safety Board+1 moreboeing737-maxalaska-airlinesdoor-plugmanufacturing-defect+2 more
Senator Elizabeth Warren released a comprehensive report analyzing the defense contractor revolving door, identifying 672 cases where the top 20 defense contractors employed former government officials, military officers, members of Congress, and senior legislative staff. The analysis found that 91% …
Elizabeth WarrenBoeingRaytheonLockheed MartinHouse Armed Services Committee+1 morerevolving-doordefense-contractorslobbyingcongressional-corruptionpentagon
On February 4, 2021, the Biden administration announced it was pausing indefinitely two major precision-guided munitions sales to Saudi Arabia worth approximately $760 million—a $478 million Raytheon contract for 7,500 Paveway “smart” bombs and a $290 million Boeing contract for 3,000 …
Joe BidenJake SullivanRaytheonBoeingSaudi Arabia+1 morebidenraytheonboeingsaudi-arabiaarms-sales+1 more
The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure released its final 238-page report on the Boeing 737 MAX disasters, concluding that the crashes “were the horrific culmination of a series of faulty technical assumptions by Boeing’s engineers, a lack of transparency on the part of …
House Transportation and Infrastructure CommitteeRepresentative Peter DeFazioRepresentative Rick LarsenFederal Aviation AdministrationBoeing+1 moreboeingfaaregulatory-capture737-maxcongressional-investigation+1 more
The Department of the Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman a $13.3 billion contract on September 8, 2020, to develop the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent intercontinental ballistic missile system, initiating the engineering and manufacturing development phase of a program estimated to cost between …
Northrop GrummanU.S. Air ForceDepartment of DefenseBoeingOrbital ATKmilitary-industrial complexdefense contractorsnuclear weaponspentagon contractsicbms+1 more
On July 24, 2019, President Trump vetoed three congressional joint resolutions that would have blocked major components of his $8.1 billion emergency arms sale to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, including transfers of Raytheon Paveway precision-guided munitions. The vetoes overrode bipartisan Senate …
Donald TrumpRaytheonLockheed MartinBoeingSaudi Arabia+3 moretrumpraytheonsaudi-arabiaarms-salescongress+2 more
On May 24, 2019, the Trump administration invoked a rarely-used emergency provision of the Arms Export Control Act to bypass congressional review and ram through 22 separate arms sales worth $8.1 billion to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Jordan. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared an …
Donald TrumpMike PompeoRaytheonLockheed MartinBoeing+2 moreraytheonsaudi-arabiatrumparms-salesyemen-war+3 more
The Federal Aviation Administration finally grounded the Boeing 737 MAX on March 13, 2019, three days after the Ethiopian Airlines crash and only after 51 other countries had already banned the aircraft. China acted first on March 11, followed by Indonesia, Singapore, India, the European Union, …
Federal Aviation AdministrationBoeingActing FAA Administrator Dan ElwellEuropean Union Aviation Safety AgencyCivil Aviation Administration of China+2 morefaaboeing737-maxregulatory-captureaviation-safety+1 more
Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, crashed six minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, killing all 157 people aboard from 35 countries. The crash was caused by the same MCAS (Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System) malfunction that downed Lion Air Flight 610 five …
Ethiopian AirlinesBoeingFederal Aviation AdministrationMCAS system157 victims from 35 countries+1 moreboeing737-maxmcasethiopian-airlinesaviation-safety+3 more
A fatal aviation disaster revealing critical design flaws in Boeing’s 737 MAX aircraft. The crash of Lion Air Flight 610 exposed systemic issues in aircraft design, maintenance, and pilot training, resulting from a malfunctioning Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS). …
Lion AirBoeingMCAS system189 victimsNational Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC)+1 moreboeing737maxmcaslion-airaviation-safety+3 more
On October 11, 2018, just nine days after Saudi agents murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, President Trump declared on CBS’s “60 Minutes” that he would not cancel arms sales to Saudi Arabia despite the killing and mounting evidence of Saudi war …
Donald TrumpRaytheonLockheed MartinBoeingMohammed bin Salman+1 moreraytheonlockheed-martinsaudi-arabiatrumpkhashoggi+3 more
Northrop Grumman completed its $9.2 billion acquisition of Orbital ATK on June 6, 2018, gaining control of the premier supplier of solid rocket motors essential for missile systems and creating anticompetitive market dominance that the Federal Trade Commission warned would “reduce competition …
Northrop GrummanOrbital ATKFederal Trade CommissionDepartment of DefenseBoeingmilitary-industrial complexdefense contractorsmonopoly powermergers and acquisitionsantitrust+2 more
Boeing delivered its first 737 MAX 8 aircraft to Malaysian carrier Malindo Air on May 16, 2017, entering revenue service on May 22. The delivery occurred despite internal Boeing communications showing employees knew the aircraft had serious safety problems, including design flaws in the MCAS system …
BoeingMalindo AirSouthwest AirlinesFederal Aviation AdministrationBoeing test pilots+1 moreboeing737-maxmcasfirst-deliveryregulatory-fraud+1 more
Boeing obtained FAA approval to exclude the MCAS (Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System) from pilot manuals, flight crew operations manuals, and all pilot training materials for the 737 MAX. This deliberate concealment meant that pilots flying the aircraft had no knowledge that a powerful …
BoeingFederal Aviation AdministrationBoeing pilotsAirline pilotsFAA certification officialsboeingmcasfaapilot-trainingregulatory-fraud+1 more
The U.S. Defense Department awarded Northrop Grumman a development contract for the B-21 Raider Long Range Strike Bomber on October 27, 2015, with an initial value of $21.4 billion that could eventually reach $80 billion over the program’s lifetime, representing one of the largest defense …
Northrop GrummanU.S. Air ForceDepartment of DefenseBoeingLockheed Martin+1 moremilitary-industrial complexdefense contractorspentagon contractsstealth technologynuclear weapons+1 more
The Federal Trade Commission approved Boeing’s $13.3 billion acquisition of McDonnell Douglas, completing a merger wave that reduced major U.S. defense contractors from 51 firms in the late 1980s to just five dominant primes by the late 1990s. The consolidation wave was actively encouraged by …
BoeingMcDonnell DouglasFederal Trade CommissionDepartment of DefenseLes Aspin+1 moreantitrustconsolidationmergerdefense-contractorsoligopoly+3 more
Defense contractor profiteering from the Vietnam War reaches extraordinary levels as the RMK-BRJ construction consortium alone holds contracts officially estimated to reach at least $900 million by November 1967. Over 60% of all construction work in South Vietnam during the war is accomplished by …
President Harry S. Truman signs the Defense Production Act in response to the Korean War, enacting sweeping federal authority over industrial mobilization and war production. The legislation enables Truman to establish the Office of Defense Mobilization, institute wage and price controls, strictly …
Harry TrumanOffice of Defense MobilizationBoeingLockheedGeneral Electric+1 moremilitary-industrial-complexdefense-spendingkorean-warindustrial-mobilizationcorporate-subsidy+1 more
Following Japan’s surrender ending World War II, major defense contractors including Boeing, Lockheed, General Dynamics, and converted automotive manufacturers face the challenge of transitioning from massive wartime production to peacetime economy. The War Production Board, which directed …
BoeingLockheedGeneral DynamicsWar Production BoardCivilian Production Administrationmilitary-industrial-complexdefense-contractscorporate-subsidyeconomic-manipulationworld-war-ii