Boeing engineer Sam Salehpour said in a Tuesday interview that he believes all Boeing 787 jets should be grounded to allow adequate safety checks on the plane, which has come under fire in recent months due to a series of incidents.
“The entire Boeing 787 fleet worldwide, as far as I’m concerned right now, needs attention”
The NBC News interview, which will be broadcast in full on Tuesday evening, comes one day before Salehpour’s scheduled testimony before Congress regarding the safety concerns at Boeing that he detailed in a complaint filed with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) earlier this year.
“The entire fleet worldwide, as far as I’m concerned right now, needs attention,” Salehpour said in a preview of the interview NBC News released Tuesday when asked about the 787 plane model specifically.
“And the attention is, you need to check your gaps and make sure that you don’t have potential for premature failure,” he added.
In a letter to FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker in January, attorneys for Salehpour stated that the Boeing engineer “repeatedly reported to Boeing management serious concerns about Boeing’s current production and quality control processes, which he believes are creating potentially catastrophic safety risks.”
The letter detailed issues with the company’s 787 and 777 jet manufacture, notably that pieces of the 787 Dreamliner fuselage are poorly fastened together and may fail after thousands of flights. Salehpour informed the agency that these issues were caused by changes to the fitting and fastening of sections on the assembly line and alleged his complaints were ignored.
“I have come forward, and I have extended my neck,” Salehpour told NBC News. “But you know, I’m at peace with myself. Because this is going to save a lot of people’s lives.”
A Boeing official denied his assertions
A Boeing official denied Salehpour’s assertions, saying that his comments concerning the 787 were “inaccurate” and did not reflect the “comprehensive work” that Boeing does.
We are fully confident in the 787 Dreamliner,” a Boeing spokesperson told The Hill, adding later, “The issues raised have been subject to rigorous engineering examination under FAA oversight. This analysis has validated that these issues do not present any safety concerns and the aircraft will maintain its service life over several decades.”
On Wednesday, the Senate Commerce Committee will hear testimony from Salehpour and three aviation experts, some of whom were engaged in a February assessment that called Boeing’s safety culture “inadequate and confusing.”
The report made 50 suggestions to Boeing, advising the company to assess the vulnerabilities and develop a plan to address them within six months. The experts stated that the idea should be shared with the FAA, which published the study.