Randall Peterson’s comments on Boeing (Letters, May 23) brought to mind a wartime catastrophe I witnessed. As schoolboys, we would watch fascinated as Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers assembled in formation in the skies above south Lincolnshire before setting off on their mission to Germany.

On one occasion, we were startled to see the sudden detachment of a complete wing from one of the bombers. The wing and the plane, both spinning slowly, came down separately in the countryside, killing all but one of the crew. The accident was attributed to an unacceptably stressful manoeuvre by an inexperienced pilot.

I can’t help but think this is a close analogy for some of the problems that have beset Boeing in recent years, with the present company board being the inexperienced pilot.

John Tippler
Spalding, Lincolnshire, UK