A Boeing quality engineer testified on Capitol Hill Wednesday that he has “serious concerns” about the safety of the company’s 787 Dreamliner and 777 aircraft, but his bosses have ignored his warnings.
Meanwhile, aviation safety advocates accused Boeing of covering up the January event in which a door plug broke off a Boeing 737 Max 9 airliner operated by Alaska Airlines, as well as tragic disasters involving 737 Max aircraft in 2018 and 2019.
“Effectively, Boeing is putting out defective airplanes”
The Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee on Investigations focused on what it called “Boeing’s broken safety culture.”
Sam Salehpour, a Boeing engineer who has turned whistleblower, claims that the company has taken manufacturing shortcuts that jeopardized the safety of its jets. He claimed that excessive force was utilized to squeeze the primary joints of 787s together, creating the illusion that there were no gaps between the sections. He expressed worries that the plane could eventually break apart in mid-flight.
“Effectively, they are putting out defective airplanes,” he charged.
Salehpour said that all 787 Dreamliners should be grounded
In an interview with NBC News that aired Tuesday, Salehpour stated that all 787 Dreamliners should be grounded.
Salehpour, who has filed complaints with the Federal Aviation Administration, claims he produced reports for Boeing management that were ignored, and his follow-up inspections revealed that the issues were not addressed 98.7% of the time.
He claimed that the company retaliated against him by shifting him to the 777 program, where he discovered additional issues, including “severe misalignment when the planes were assembled.”
“I literally saw people jumping on the pieces of the airplane to get them to align,” he said. “I call it the Tarzan effect.”
Salehpour said he’s been “sidelined” at Boeing, “told to shut up,” and “received physical threats.”
“My boss said, ‘I would have killed someone who said what you said in the meeting,’” he said.