I can’t stand lazy journalism, especially when it fails to provide consumers even the least bit of context. As a pilot, I notice this laziness frequently in aviation reporting.

CBS News ran a segment about “dozens” of 737NGs being pulled from service “worldwide” due to cracks in their pickle forks. This critical component was designed to never need to be replaced, so these cracks are of concern.

Later in the segment, the banner said that “up to 50” 737NGs were pulled from service. CBSN cited Southwest Airlines and Qantas as each pulling three airplanes from service. They failed to mention that the SWA fleet is over 800 and Qantas operates 71 737NGs.

It takes almost a full a minute into the two-minute segment before the reporter briefly notes that there are over 6,800 737NGs in service worldwide.

.0076% of Boeing 737NGs in service were found to have cracked pickle forks as of the publication of the piece.

CBSN’s sensationalism is a disservice to us all.