You’ve probably seen the thumbnails. They’re usually grainy, showing a massive jet—often labeled as a Boeing 787 Dreamliner—dropping like a stone or cartwheeling into a fireball. If you search for a video of 787 crash on YouTube or TikTok, you’ll find hundreds of them.
But here’s the thing.
The Boeing 787 hasn’t actually had a fatal hull-loss crash in its entire history of commercial service. Not one.
It’s a weird paradox of the digital age. We have more access to information than ever, yet the "Dreamliner crash" remains one of the most persistent pieces of misinformation in aviation circles. People see a clip from a flight simulator or a totally different aircraft accident, and suddenly the algorithm decides that’s the reality. It’s kinda wild how fast a fake clip can travel compared to a dry, 200-page safety report.
If you're looking for the truth behind those viral videos, you have to peel back several layers of internet hoaxes, technical glitches, and some very real close calls that, luckily, didn't end in tragedy.
Why the Video of 787 Crash Searches Lead to Misinformation
Most of what people click on isn't real. Period.
The vast majority of footage labeled as a Dreamliner accident is actually generated in Microsoft Flight Simulator or X-Plane 12. Modern graphics are so good that if you add a little "shake" to the camera and lower the resolution to 480p, it looks terrifyingly real. These creators use "787 crash" as clickbait because the Dreamliner is a high-profile, modern jet. It gets views.
Then there are the "repurposed" videos.
You’ll often see the 2013 National Air Cargo Flight 102 crash—a Boeing 747 freighter—mislabeled as a 787. That’s the famous, horrifying dashcam footage from Bagram Airfield where the plane pitches up and stalls. Because both are Boeings, and because the general public isn't always great at spotting the difference between a four-engine jumbo jet and a twin-engine Dreamliner, the lie sticks.
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Honestly, it’s frustrating for aviation geeks. We want to talk about actual safety trends, but we’re stuck debunking videos that were made in a bedroom in Ohio.
The Battery Fires of 2013: The Closest We Got
If there is a "real" video that looks like a disaster, it’s likely from the 2013 grounding.
Back then, the 787 was the "it" plane, but it had a massive problem with its lithium-ion batteries. They were prone to thermal runaway. In January 2013, a Japan Airlines (JAL) 787 caught fire while parked at Boston Logan. Shortly after, an All Nippon Airways (ANA) flight had to make an emergency landing in Japan because of battery smoke.
- The JAL incident produced plenty of footage of fire trucks surrounding the jet.
- Heavy smoke billowed from the fuselage.
- The FAA grounded the entire global fleet for months.
That was a huge deal. It was the first time the FAA grounded an entire aircraft type since 1979. But even then, nobody died. The "crash" videos from this era are mostly shots of smoke and panicked news anchors.
The LATAM Flight 800 "Nosedive" Incident
Fast forward to March 2024. This is probably the most recent reason why people are searching for a video of 787 crash or similar terrifying clips.
A LATAM Airlines 787-9 flying from Sydney to Auckland suddenly dropped. It didn't crash, but it was a "strong movement" that threw people into the ceiling. If you’ve seen the interior cell phone footage from that flight, it’s haunting. Water bottles flying, people screaming, blood on the overhead bins.
The preliminary reports are fascinating and a bit bizarre. It wasn't a wing falling off or an engine failing. It looks like a flight attendant accidentally hit a switch on the back of the pilot's seat while serving a meal, which pushed the pilot into the controls.
It's a reminder that "accidents" aren't always about the plane breaking. Sometimes it's just human weirdness.
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Real 787 Incidents vs. Internet Fiction
To be clear, the 787 has had its share of "scares." But in aviation, we distinguish between an accident (where the plane is destroyed or people die) and an incident.
- Air Canada Flight 873 (2023): An engine failure after takeoff. Dramatic flames? Yes. Video? Yes. Crash? No.
- Norwegian Air (2019): Engine fragments fell from the sky over Italy. It damaged cars, but the plane landed safely.
- The "Whistleblower" Claims: Sam Salehpour and others have raised concerns about the fuselage gaps and "shimming" during assembly. While these are serious allegations being investigated by the FAA, they haven't resulted in a crash.
When you see a video claiming a 787 went down, check the tail number. Check the news. If it’s not on the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) or BEA (Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses) database, it didn't happen.
The Physics of Why It Hasn't Crashed
The 787 is a beast of engineering. It’s made largely of carbon-fiber reinforced polymers. This makes it light and fuel-efficient, but it also changes how the plane handles stress.
The wings on a Dreamliner can flex up to 26 feet.
If you see a video of a 787 in heavy turbulence, the wings look like they’re flapping. To a nervous flyer, that looks like a crash waiting to happen. To an engineer, that’s the plane working exactly as intended. It’s absorbing the energy so the fuselage doesn't have to.
We also have to talk about the GEnx and Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines. They are insanely reliable. Even if one fails—which is usually what those "fiery" videos show—the plane is certified for ETOPS (Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards). Basically, it can fly on one engine for over five hours.
You could lose an engine over the middle of the Pacific and still make it to a runway.
How to Spot a Fake Aviation Video
I’ve spent way too much time looking at these. Here is how you can tell within five seconds if that video of 787 crash is total nonsense:
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- The Physics of the Camera: If the camera is "tracking" the plane perfectly from a mile away with zero blur and perfect zoom, it’s a simulator. Real people filming crashes are usually shaking and terrified.
- The Smoke: CGI smoke often looks "thin" or repeats patterns. Real aviation fuel fires are thick, oily, and pitch black.
- The Sound: If the audio is a generic "jet engine" roar that doesn't change when the camera moves, it's fake. Real recordings have wind noise and clipping.
- The Livery: Many fake videos show 787s in Pan Am or TWA colors. Those airlines haven't existed for decades; they never flew the 787.
The Reality of Boeing’s Current Reputation
We can't talk about Boeing without acknowledging the elephant in the room. The 737 MAX disasters in 2018 and 2019 (Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines) fundamentally changed how the world looks at Boeing.
Because the MAX crashed, people assume the 787 is also "dangerous."
But they are completely different animals. The 737 is an old design (from the 1960s) that was modernized and pushed to its limit. The 787 was a "clean sheet" design. It was built from the ground up with 21st-century technology. While Boeing has serious cultural and quality control issues that they need to fix—and I mean serious—the 787's flight control software (fly-by-wire) is different from the MCAS system that caused the 737 MAX crashes.
Experts like Jeff Guzzetti, a former FAA investigator, often point out that the 787's safety record is actually among the best in the history of flight. It’s right up there with the Airbus A350 and the Boeing 777.
What You Should Actually Be Looking For
If you are genuinely interested in aviation safety and want to see how these planes are tested, stop looking for "crash" videos and look for "test" videos.
- Wing Flex Tests: Watch the video where Boeing engineers intentionally break a 787 wing in a lab. It bends nearly 90 degrees before it finally snaps. It’s incredible.
- Water Ingestion Tests: Seeing a 787 blast through a flooded runway to prove the engines won't quit is way more interesting than a fake CGI explosion.
- Rejected Takeoff (RTO) Tests: Watch the brakes glow bright orange-red as they stop a fully loaded jet at max speed.
These videos are real. They show you why the plane doesn't crash.
Actionable Steps for the Concerned Flyer
If you're worried because you saw a viral video, here is the "real-world" protocol:
- Verify the Source: Use sites like Aviation Safety Network (aviation-safety.net). They track every single incident involving commercial aircraft. If it's not there, it didn't happen.
- Check the Date: Many "new" videos are actually 10-year-old footage of a different plane (like the 777 Asiana crash in San Francisco) re-uploaded with a new title.
- Understand the Data: Flying is statistically safer than walking across the street. The 787 fleet has millions of flight hours with zero fatalities. That’s not luck; it’s redundant engineering.
- Ignore the "Doomscrolling" Content: Social media algorithms prioritize fear. Searching for "787 safety record" will give you much more accurate (if slightly more boring) information than "787 fireball."
The Boeing 787 remains a marvel of technology, even with the corporate drama surrounding its manufacturer. It hasn't had the "big one" that the fake videos claim. So the next time a video of 787 crash pops up in your feed, look for the "Game Over" screen or the flight simulator watermark. It's almost certainly there.