Filmmaker Rory Kennedy has made "Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing," a follow-up to her 2022 documentary "Downfall: The Case Against Boeing," this time investigating the mysterious death of whistleblower John Barnett. Barnett, Boeing's former quality manager, was found dead in his car in March 2024, a day before he was due to give his third deposition, in circumstances Kennedy describes as "quite suspicious." The new film, premiering on Netflix, matters because it revives scrutiny of Boeing's safety culture and its consequences, both for the whistleblower who exposed problems and for the wider aviation industry.

The documentary, out 19 August on Netflix, features testimony from former Boeing employees and victims' families angered by the Trump administration's Department of Justice reaching a $1.1 billion nonprosecution agreement with Boeing over the 737 MAX crashes, which claimed 346 lives. It traces failings back to the tenure of CEO Jim McNerney (2005–2015), alleging a "profits above all else" culture that saw parts outsourced and Dreamliner production shifted to a non-unionised South Carolina plant, where undercover footage shown in the film captures workers admitting they would not fly on planes built there due to substandard parts.