KUALA LUMPUR – Boeing is headed into more turbulence after whistle-blower Sam Salehpour accused the planemaker of ignoring “critical defects” on nearly 1,500 of its aircraft, including the 787 Dreamliner and 777 models.
Salehpour, who worked at Boeing for more than 10 years, said the company prioritised profits over safety, and took shortcuts in its assembly processes.
He claimed the shortcuts had led to “excessively large gaps between different plane parts that could ultimately cause a premature fatigue failure without any warning, thus creating unsafe conditions for the aircraft with potentially catastrophic accidents”.
In response, Boeing has released a detailed denial, reiterating its confidence in the 787 Dreamliner and refuting claims that it took retaliatory action against Salehpour.
It added that the issues raised “have been subject to rigorous engineering examination under FAA oversight”.
However, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has launched another investigation into Boeing after the whistle-blower’s claims came to light.
Salehpour’s lawyers – Debra Katz and Lisa Banks – said their client was transferred out of the Dreamliner programme after he raised concerns about the assembly defects.
When he was moved to the 777 programme, Salehpour raised more issues on defects and he was threatened with termination.
A US Senate committee has scheduled a hearing for April 17 titled “Examining Boeing’s Broken Safety Culture: Firsthand Accounts.”
The planemaker’s woes continued as an engine cover on a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-800 fell off last Sunday during take-off in Denver and struck the wing flap.
The aircraft was towed to the gate after experiencing the loss of its engine cowling.
Boeing and the airline industry have been in the spotlight since January, when an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 made an emergency landing at Portland, Oregon, after a door panel detached mid-air at 16,000ft.
In the aftermath of that incident, the FAA grounded the Boeing 737 MAX 9 for several weeks, barring Boeing from increasing the MAX production rate, and mandated the development of a comprehensive plan to address “systemic quality-control issues” within 90 days.
It is reported that the 737-800 is in the prior generation of the best-selling 737 known as the 737 NG, which in turn was replaced by the 737 MAX. – April 10, 2024