Boeing battered as incidents pile up

Boeing, still working to repair its image after the door flew off one of its 737 Max 7 mid-flight in January, has been hit with a fresh wave of bad press in recent days due to a series of incidents that have kept the airplane manufacturer in the headlines.

First, on Monday, the company was back in the international news after a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner took a "nose dive" during a LATAM Airlines flight to New Zealand, leaving 50 people injured and sparking investigations from authorities about what caused the rapid drop in altitude.

The same day, a United Airlines Boeing 777-300 plane was forced to turn around midflight after suffering what the airline says was a "maintenance issue" following takeoff from Sydney.

Also on Monday, news broke that a whistleblower who raised doubts about Boeing's production standards was found dead over the weekend.

BOEING FAILED 33 OUT OF 89 AUDITS DURING FAA EXAMINATION: REPORT

Authorities in South Carolina said John Barnett, who was a quality control engineer at Boeing for decades, died from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Saturday. Days before he died, Barnett was cross-examined by Boeing's lawyers and his own attorneys in a lawsuit against the company.

Barnett's attorneys are calling for a full investigation into his death and say the lawsuit could continue despite his death.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
BA	THE BOEING CO.	152.42	+1.70	+1.13%

Multiple Boeing customers reported their own troubles due to the manufacturers' woes this week, too.

Southwest Airlines said Tuesday it is cutting capacity and pausing hiring in 2024 due to Boeing's "continued challenges." 

UNITED AIRLINES BOEING PLANE THAT TURNED AROUND MIDFLIGHT SUFFERED HYDRAULIC LEAK

Then United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby revealed the carrier had told Boeing to stop making the hundreds of 737 Max 10s it ordered and to instead build Max 9s, given it is "impossible to say" when the Max 10s might be certified by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
LUV	SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO.	32.36	0.00	0.00%
UAL	UNITED AIRLINES HOLDINGS INC.	96.83	+0.48	+0.50%

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Last week, a United Airlines Boeing 777-200 lost a wheel while taking off from San Francisco on a flight to Japan and had to land in Los Angeles.

FOX Business' Chris Pandolfo and Greg Norman contributed to this report.