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Boeing In The Spotlight As Congress Calls A Whistleblower To Testify About Defects In Planes
Boeing is the focus of back-to-back Senate hearings on Wednesday as Congress investigates allegations of severe safety failings at the troubled aircraft manufacturer.
The Senate Commerce Committee was hearing testimony from members of an expert team that discovered major weaknesses in Boeing’s safety culture. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said the public expects the Federal Aviation Administration and Congress to ensure that boarding one of the company’s planes is safe.
AP – Vor News Image
Boeing In The Spotlight As Congress Calls A Whistleblower To Testify About Defects In Planes
“Commercial air travel is the safest mode of transportation, although recent events have justifiably concerned the flying public. Cruz stated, “The perception is that things are getting worse.”
In a February study, the expert panel stated that, despite reforms made following the Max crashes, Boeing’s safety culture remains faulty, and employees who express concerns may face pressure and punishment.
One of the witnesses, MIT aeronautics instructor Javier de Luis, lost his sister when a Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashed in Ethiopia in 2019.
A second Senate hearing will feature a Boeing engineer who believes that pieces of the 787 Dreamliner’s skin are improperly connected and may eventually fall apart. The whistleblower’s lawyer claims Boeing ignored the engineer’s warnings and prohibited him from speaking with specialists about the problems.
Sam Salehpour, a whistleblower, provided information to the Federal Aviation Administration, which is investigating the quality and safety of Boeing’s manufacturing. Ed Pierson, a former manager on the Boeing 737 program, is also slated to appear before a Senate investigative subcommittee on Wednesday. Two other aircraft technical specialists are also on the witness list.
The Democratic chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s subcommittee, as well as its top Republican, have requested papers dating back six years from Boeing.
AP – VOR News Image
Boeing In The Spotlight As Congress Calls A Whistleblower To Testify About Defects In Planes
The senators want all information about the production of Boeing 787 and 777 planes, including any safety issues or complaints submitted by Boeing employees, contractors, or airlines. Some issues concern Salehpour’s claims about poorly installed carbon-composite panels on the Dreamliner.
A Boeing spokeswoman stated that the business is working with the MPs’ probe and has offered to share papers and briefings.
The business denies accusations regarding the 787’s structural integrity. This week, two Boeing engineering officials stated that no fatigue or cracking in the composite panels was discovered during design testing or inspections of planes, some of which were 12 years old. They claimed that the material, composed of carbon fibers and resin, is practically immune to fatigue, a continual concern with conventional aluminum fuselages.
Boeing executives also denied Salehpour’s claim that he had witnessed production workers jumping on fuselage parts on 777s to position them.
Salehpour is the latest whistleblower to come forward with allegations of production difficulties at Boeing. The business was plunged into crisis mode when a door-plug panel blew off a 737 Max jet during an Alaska Airlines flight in January. Investigators focused on four bolts removed but not reinstalled during a repair procedure at Boeing’s manufacturing.
The Justice Department has launched a criminal inquiry into the company, while the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are conducting separate probes.
CEO David Calhoun, who will step down at the end of the year, has repeatedly stated that Boeing is working to enhance its manufacturing quality and safety culture. He described the blowout on the Alaska jet as a “watershed moment” that will result in a better Boeing.
Such comments are met with widespread suspicion.
AP – VOR News Image
Boeing In The Spotlight As Congress Calls A Whistleblower To Testify About Defects In Planes
“We need to look at what Boeing does, not just what it says it’s doing,” said Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, before the hearing on Wednesday.
The FAA is also sure to face some criticism. Duckworth stated that until recently, the agency had “looked past far too many of Boeing’s repeated bad behaviors,” including when it certified the 737 Max more than a decade ago. Two Max jets crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people, due to incorrect activation of a flight-control system that the FAA did not fully comprehend.
The heads of the Senate investigations panel have also demanded information from the FAA about its monitoring of Boeing.
SOURCE – (AP)
