Flops of the year

While the world celebrated spectacular victories in tech, space, sports, politics, and more this year, here are some of the biggest flops of 2024 that made headlines.

Boeing
The airliner faced multiple setbacks this year, beginning with an Alaska Airlines plane’s January 5 door plug blowout. Luckily, no one was injured, but what followed was a series of airlines complaining they found loose bolts in their Boeing planes. It resulted in the FAA grounding 171 Max 9 jets, allowing them to resume service only after inspection. The DOJ also began a criminal probe into the planemaker.

Furthermore, Boeing’s shares tanked, its CEO stepped down, and the company incurred over $6 billion loss in the third quarter after workers strike halted production.

Stranded NASA astronauts
The two astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams blasted off to space on a Boeing Starliner spacecraft on June 5 for a week-long mission to the International Space Station (ISS). But they are still in space after the craft’s propulsion system had a helium leak and five of its thrusters malfunctioned during docking with the ISS. They were initially set to return to Earth on June 14.

The astronauts are expected to return in a SpaceX capsule in March 2025. The spacecraft issue was another blow to Boeing’s reputation.

CrowdStrike IT outage
Nobody knew a faulty software update could disrupt travel, the stock market, and even hospital surgeries until one by a little-known cybersecurity company, CrowdStrike, affected 8.5 million Microsoft Windows devices worldwide in July. It created what is believed to be the largest IT outage in history.

The impact was particularly felt in aviation, with 4,300 flights canceled globally, roughly 2,600 of which were US flights. More than 11,000 aircraft were delayed.

Some of the largest US and European hospitals couldn’t perform surgeries since the tech outage affected 20,000 patient data in Providence and Services, one of the nation’s largest nonprofit healthcare systems.

Traders at several financial institutions in New York, London and Tokyo couldn’t execute orders, leading to a 20% drop in trading volume.

Raygun
Last, we have the most controversial athlete of the Paris Olympics, Australian breakdancer Raygun, aka Rachael Louise Gunn. Her lackluster performance and new dance moves (as she claims) on the global athletic stage received heavy criticism from judges and viewers worldwide. She finished last at the Olympics and, later this year, retired from competitive breaking, citing online bullying.

Meanwhile, the internet, talk shows, and the entertainment industry want more of her, especially her “kangaroo hop” move.