Warning Bells

The Foundation for Aviation Safety

In June of 2018, warning bells went off for Ed Pierson, a Senior Manager at Boeing's 737 Factory. The production environment he helped oversee was becoming increasingly chaotic, leading to worrisome lapses in quality and safety. Months later, when two Boeing 737 MAX aircraft crashed in separate incidents, killing over 300 people, Pierson took action as a whistleblower, determined to shed light on the potential role played by production defects. Today, as a leading safety advocate in aviation, Pierson continues to push Boeing and Federal authorities to fully investigate and fix the 737 MAX. Join him as he discusses the latest safety-related news; chats with a fascinating array of whistleblowers, safety experts, policymakers, and business leaders from around the globe; and explores how all of us can keep our communities safer by heeding our own warning bells.

  1. 2D AGO

    Episode 31: Buried Signals - Following the Data When the Official Story Falls Apart

    On June 12, 2025, Air India Flight 171—a Boeing 787-8—went down just moments after takeoff. Within weeks, a preliminary report pointed the finger at the pilots, citing fuel cutoff switches that allegedly "transitioned" from run to cutoff. Case closed—or so it seemed. But what if that story doesn’t hold up? Electrical engineer Jeremy John Thompson saw something else. In this episode of Warning Bells, Ed and Joe talk with Jeremy about his painstaking technical analysis—an investigation built from system logic, failure modes, and engineering reality. His work points to a plausible electrical failure scenario that challenges the official account and exposes what the report left out: missing data, unexamined aircraft systems, and a troubling rush to blame the flight crew. As online commentators pile on and uncomfortable truths get buried, Jeremy follows the signals—literally—inside a Boeing 787, tracing how a hidden electrical fault could cascade into catastrophe. The Foundation for Aviation Safety has evidence indicating the Air India airplane had a long history of serious electrical problems including a fire in the P100 Power Panel. This episode lays out Jeremy’s findings step by step—and asks the question investigators should have started with: What really failed first? If you care about aviation safety, investigative integrity, and the truth behind preventable disasters, this is an episode you don’t want to miss.

    1h 12m

  2. 12/20/2025

    Episode 30: A Small Town, A Global Aviation Risk

    Join Ed and Joe on Warning Bells as they welcome Charles Hoefer for a chilling deep dive into a case that ties a brand-new RV factory to the illicit production of critical flight components, reveals troubling government inaction, and raises urgent questions about hidden safety risks to passengers and flight crews.

    1h 4m

  3. 10/22/2025

    Episode 29: Have 737 MAX Lessons Been Learned?

    The Boeing 737 MAX exposed a catastrophic failure in the U.S. aircraft certification system — two crashes, 347 lives lost, and a crisis of confidence that shook aviation to its core. The FAA promised reform.  Instead, insiders say problems have not been admitted or corrected. Now, as Boeing pushes to accelerate the certification of its next-generation jets — the 737 MAX 7, MAX 10, and 777X — the FAA is quietly making that process even easier (i.e. "streamlined"). What does that mean for safety? For passengers? And for accountability? Join Ed Pierson and Joe Jacobsen as they welcome Bob Stoney, a former FAA test pilot who flew the 737 MAX during its recertification. Together, they discuss the design and manufacturing flaws that led to tragedy and the tendency to ignore problems and shift blame.

    50 min

  4. 09/03/2025

    Episode 28: Leadership, Integrity, and Transparency

    In this episode of Warning Bells, Foundation for Aviation Safety’s Ed Pierson and Randy Klatt examine how leadership—or the lack of it—shapes aviation accident investigations. Drawing lessons from recent tragedies, including the Air India Flight 171 disaster, they discuss the crucial role of integrity, humility, and accountability in uncovering the truth. The conversation highlights the inherent conflicts of interest when manufacturers and regulators investigate their own products, the dangers of withholding factual information, and why thoughtful and experienced speculation can be both healthy and necessary when official reports are lacking or non-existent.

    52 min

  5. 07/16/2025

    Episode 27: Why Transparency Matters – Aviation Investigations, Accountability, and Safety

    Join host Ed, Joe, and Randy as they sit down with Juan Browne—airline captain, Air Force veteran, and the voice behind the Blancolirio aviation channel—for an unfiltered conversation about transparency in aviation investigations, healthy speculation, and why the aviation community deserves timely access to factual data.

    1h 1m

  6. 06/24/2025

    Episode 26: Perspectives from the Flight Deck – A Conversation With Mentour Pilot

    In this episode of Warning Bells, Ed Pierson welcomes Petter Hörnfeldt—better known as the Mentour Pilot—to discuss aviation safety, pilot trust, and the critical role of transparency in an evolving industry. Alongside Joe Jacobsen and Randy Klatt of The Foundation for Aviation Safety, they unpack the realities behind the Boeing 737 MAX, examine the risks of safety complacency, and discuss how pilots rely on a wide array of support systems and other aviation professionals.

    1h 17m

  7. 05/18/2025

    Episode 25: Buried in Bureaucracy - How Airplane Manufacturers and Aviation Regulators Gamble with Lives

    Every day, millions of passengers board planes, trusting that someone, somewhere, is keeping them safe. But behind the polished image of commercial aviation lies a hidden, bureaucratic process—managed quietly by the FAA and other aviation regulators—that is supposed to identify and communicate dangerous aircraft defects. When a problem is discovered, however, the FAA doesn’t sound an alarm alerting passengers to unsafe conditions—it sends out dense, technical service bulletins that can take several years to spark real action on the part of the manufacturer and the airlines. In this episode of Warning Bells, Ed and Joe sit down with regulatory affairs specialist Jesika Lane to expose the murky system that governs aircraft defect reporting and resolution. From delayed fixes to a culture of concealment, we shine a light on the quiet failures that could cost lives. Strap in. The truth isn’t just complicated—it’s chilling.

    53 min

  8. 04/10/2025

    Episode 24: Boeing Has a Plan to Speed Up Production - Stop Inspecting the Work.

    The FAA continues to fail in their oversight of Boeing’s manufacturing operations. Boeing whistleblowers have been complaining for years about the illegal removal of thousands of quality control inspections on individual airplanes. By the time the FAA acted, it was too little, too late. 346 people died in two MAX crashes and hundreds of airplanes have already been delivered to unsuspecting airline customers around the world. So how did this happen? Join Ed, Joe, and safety expert Randy Klatt, as they discuss Boeing’s dangerous word games and FAA follies.

    57 min
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Trailer

4.7
out of 5
24 Ratings

About

In June of 2018, warning bells went off for Ed Pierson, a Senior Manager at Boeing's 737 Factory. The production environment he helped oversee was becoming increasingly chaotic, leading to worrisome lapses in quality and safety. Months later, when two Boeing 737 MAX aircraft crashed in separate incidents, killing over 300 people, Pierson took action as a whistleblower, determined to shed light on the potential role played by production defects. Today, as a leading safety advocate in aviation, Pierson continues to push Boeing and Federal authorities to fully investigate and fix the 737 MAX. Join him as he discusses the latest safety-related news; chats with a fascinating array of whistleblowers, safety experts, policymakers, and business leaders from around the globe; and explores how all of us can keep our communities safer by heeding our own warning bells.

Information

  • Creator
    The Foundation for Aviation Safety
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    34
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Warning Bells
  • Show Website
    Warning Bells