Apology issued by magazine for ‘inappropriate’ airplane cartoon following Air India tragedy

The New Yorker has apologized after posting a cartoon poking fun at the pains of air travel hours after a fatal plane crash in India.

The legendary magazine posted the sketch on Thursday, less than eight hours after the Air India crash that killed more than 200 in Gujarat.

The crash occurred just after 4am ET, and the post was deleted after around two hours.

In a statement, a representative for the publication explained how the post had been published.

The New Yorker spokesperson mentioned that the Instagram post had been scheduled in advance of the tragic news from India that occurred on the same day. They stated that the post has been removed, expressing regret for the unintentional poor timing.

The statement was sent just before 3pm after dozens had already aired their outrage.   

The cartoon by the long-serving editorial cartoonist Joe Dato depicted a scenario at an airport where a traveler, who had missed his flight, is being told by an uncompassionate airport staff member: ‘You did say you wanted an earlier flight.’

The punchline, unsurprisingly, was not received well.

The New Yorker’s Instagram page was met with outrage posted a cartoon poking fun at the pains of air travel hours after a fatal plane crash in India

Posted around noon Eastern Time, the post was taken down after two hours due to the numerous comments referencing the Air India crash that resulted in the loss of over 200 lives.

‘This is very poor. Please erase it ASAP,’ one social media user sniped, as dozens went on to beg the same.

‘Omg read the room!’ raged someone else. ‘How can y’all post this the day of one of the world’s deadliest aviation crashes??’

‘Please delete,’ a third said.

‘No guys, no,’ added a fourth, also demanding the cartoon be taken down.

The 100-year-old publication ultimately obliged, before addressing the oversight in a statement to Daily Mail just before 3pm. 

Users had speculated about the slip-up, with one correctly calling out the cause.   

‘The dangers of scheduled posts,’ the user wrote, as another commenter asked other to ‘allow more time’ before rushing to bash the paper.

The post came down quickly thereafter. The cartoon was first published in 2015.

The publication has since apologized and claimed that the post was pre-scheduled

Emergency services are still working to locate survivors of for the still-unexplained crash of Air India flight 171

As for the still-unexplained crash of Air India flight 171, emergency services are still working to locate survivors.

So far, officials have said at least one person on-board the plane survived. 

It was the first fatal crash and the first hull loss involving a Boeing 787 since the plane’s introduction in 2011.

In January 2024 a former Boeing employee who worked on the 787, John Barnett, appeared on TMZ to warn about under-pressure workers were deliberately fitting ‘sub-standard’ parts to such planes. 

His warning would prove prophetic, with a 787 experiencing a midair ‘technical event’ that injured 50 passengers that March.

Barnett was found dead from a self-inflicted gun shot wound in South Carolina days before.

Boeing has been deemed responsible for three high-profile accidents involving the separate 737 MAX aircraft in recent years, including two fatal ones that killed a total of 346 people, and left all Max jets grounded worldwide for nearly two years.

The Air India plane that crashed in the city of Ahmedabad was more than a decade old. It first flew in late 2013 and was delivered to Air India in January 2014

In the years since it had amassed more than 41,000 flight hours, before its ill-fated flight intended to land in London Thursday

The crash, still unexplained, remains under investigation. The explosion caused by the crash is seen here

‘Due to the crash, there could be enhanced scrutiny on manufacturing and quality procedures. However, at this time, we do not feel there will be a long-term impact to production,’ said Edward Jones analyst Jeff Windau said at the time.

The company also faced federal investigations and a storm of civil claims from victims’ families. 

Earlier this month, Boeing agreed to a deal with the US Department of Justice that will see it pay a $1.1billion settlement to avoid prosecution over the two crashes, which includes 444.5m to the victims’ families. The crashes occurred in 2018 and 2019. 

The Air India plane that crashed in the city of Ahmedabad, meanwhile, was more than a decade old. It first flew in late 2013 and was delivered to Air India in January 2014.  In the years since it had amassed more than 41,000 flight hours.

The crash remains under investigation.