Boeing stock hit as plane dives

Boeing's stock price plunged 10 per cent in a week when one of its planes plunged too – ascribed last night to a cockpit mishap – and a whistleblower was found dead in his pickup in the middle of legal proceedings against the company. About 50 people were injured when a Latam Airlines Boeing 787 en route from Sydney to Auckland went into a sudden dive, pinning some passengers to the ceiling. The WSJ says US industry officials have been told the cause was a flight attendant accidentally hitting a button on the back of a pilot's seat while delivering a meal. The officials said the button, which was meant to be covered but wasn't, pitched the seat forward, forcing the pilot into the controls. The suggestion of life-threatening slapstick in a supposedly state-of-the-art cockpit won't help the world's second-biggest planemaker as it tries to dig out from under multiple scandals including that of John Barnett, a former quality manager said to have taken his own life while suing the company for allegedly hampering his career for drawing attention to shortcomings on the production line of the... 787.