CHARLESTON — Filmmaker Rory Kennedy will release her new documentary, "Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing," on Netflix in August. The film follows Kennedy's 2022 documentary, "Downfall: The Case Against Boeing," and was prompted by the death of Boeing whistleblower John Barnett in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2024.

Barnett, a former quality inspector, was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. A journal found beside him contained the entry: "I pray the motherfuckers that destroyed my life pay!!! I pray Boeing Pays!!! Bury me face down so Boeing and their lying ass leaders can kiss my ass[.] To My Family and Friends, I Found My Purposes! I'm at Peace!" Kennedy said she was "horrified and heartbroken." She added, "I spoke to his mom pretty immediately after we had heard that news. She said to me, we need to make sure John's story gets out there, and that was a big part of why we decided to revisit this."

During his 32 years at Boeing, Barnett was transferred to the company's non-union plant in Charleston, South Carolina, to oversee 787 Dreamliner production. There, he documented the installation of scrap parts, some of which were rotted and painted red to indicate they were defective, on passenger jets. He also conducted tests on the 787's emergency oxygen systems, which showed a 25% failure rate. In 2017, Barnett filed a whistleblower complaint against Boeing with the Department of Labor and subsequently took early retirement.

Kennedy said she had never before created a documentary follow-up in this manner. "I've never done a documentary follow-up in this kind of way but we all felt that Boeing is such a big company and we all fly these airplanes all over the world," she said. "I don't want one of these planes falling out of the sky and I feel like I have a lot of inside knowledge and also connections to understanding what's going on inside of Boeing and I just felt like we've got to stay at this."

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley questioned Boeing about allegations that the company cut corners on quality and safety. "Is quality part of your compensation package because we've had multiple whistleblowers come before this committee and allege that Boeing is cutting every possible corner on quality and safety, not just in the past but now," Hawley said. "They've alleged that you've eliminated safety inspections, that there are fewer inspectors doing quality inspections out there, they've alleged that when they raised issues and concerns they were reassigned, they were retaliated against, they were physically threatened." He added, "That doesn't sound like attention to quality to me and yet you're getting paid $33 million a year." Boeing has expressed confidence in the 787 Dreamliner and disputed claims regarding the jet's structural integrity, calling them inaccurate. A door plug panel on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max blew out at 16,000 feet in 2024; many oxygen tanks were reportedly not functional during that incident.

Kennedy noted that company leadership, trained to prioritize cost-cutting and stockholder returns, contributed to the situation. "You had folks who are running the company who are trained with this idea that we should cut costs, that we should try to get as much money for the stockholders as possible, that we should get as much money for CEOs as possible and cut, cut, cut everything else including at the expense of safety," she said. "I don't feel terribly safe." Kennedy said she personally avoids flying on 737 Maxes and 787 Dreamliners, though she flies on other Boeing aircraft. "It is, as everybody who flies knows, very hard to get around that entirely." Boeing declined to cooperate with production for both "Freefall" and the 2022 "Downfall" documentary.