“Every person who boards a Boeing is at risk”: four whistleblowers testify before the US Senate

Four whistleblowers, including current and former Boeing employees, testified Wednesday before a U.S. Senate committee investigating “serious problems” in the production of Boeing’s 737 MAX, 787 Dreamliner and 777 planes.

“I’m not here because I want to be here. I’m here because (…) I don’t want to see a Boeing 787 or a Boeing 777 crash,” Sam Salepour, a quality engineer at an aircraft manufacturing company with 17 years of experience, told senators.

“I was told to shut up”

“I have serious concerns about the safety of the 787, and I am willing to take professional risks to speak out,” he said, noting that he also noticed problems on the 777.

“I was suspended from the game. They told me to shut up and they threatened me with physical harm,” the engineer continued. “If something happens to me, I am calm because I feel that by testifying openly, I will save many lives.”

This is a letter sent by his lawyers to several recipients, including the FAA, which initiated the Senate investigation.

Boeing says it’s ‘confident’

Wednesday’s hearing will be followed by several more, including representatives from Boeing and the FAA, who will be called to testify, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, the chairman of the investigative panel, said in the preamble.

“There are increasingly serious allegations that Boeing’s safety culture is broken and its practices are unacceptable,” said Richard Blumenthal, adding that he had received numerous testimonies in recent days.

Before the hearing on Wednesday, Boeing again defended its planes, saying it remained “confident in the safety and durability of the 787 and 777.”

Two engineers at a briefing on Monday denied that about 1,400 Boeing planes had serious safety flaws.

Three more informants

“Boeing understands the importance of the panel’s oversight responsibilities and we are cooperating with this investigation,” the panel repeated over several days, saying it had “offered to provide documents, testimony and technical briefings.”

In addition to Sam Salehpour, members of the investigative panel also listened for nearly two hours to Ed Pearson, a former manager of Boeing’s 737 MAX program, Joe Jacobsen, who spent 25 years at the FAA after eleven years at Boeing, and Sean Pruchnicki, an aviation specialist. security and former airline pilot.

“I did everything I could to tell the world that the MAX was still unsafe and to warn authorities about the dangers of Boeing’s production,” Pearson said. But “after two accidents, nothing has changed.”

The 737 MAX was grounded worldwide after two 737 MAX 8s crashed in 2018 and 2019 (346 fatalities) due to design defects.

“Unless action is taken and leaders are not held accountable, every person who boards a Boeing will be at risk,” said Ed Pearson, who called the FAA’s oversight “ineffective and reactive.”

High blood pressure

Richard Blumenthal has already called on the Justice Department to review whether Boeing is complying with an agreement reached in 2021 to avoid litigation related to the two crashes. The revelations made during the hearings will undoubtedly add further pressure.

Following Sam Salehpour’s warning, the FAA began investigating the two models. On Tuesday, it said all Dreamliners in service were “compliant” with airworthiness directives.

Now, three of the four models of commercial aircraft currently produced by the American group are officially the subject of a regulatory investigation.

It looks at the 737 family, Boeing’s flagship aircraft, after an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 lost a door cover on Jan. 5. The Alaska incident comes after several production problems in 2023 involving the 737 MAX and Dreamliner.

On this occasion, Ed Pearson denounced a “criminal cover-up” when Boeing said, according to the NTSB investigative body, that it had no documentation related to the tampering of the cap holder at its plant. “This documentation exists, (…) I myself handed it over to the FBI,” the federal police, “several months ago,” he confirmed. The FAA audit found “non-compliance issues” at the manufacturer and its subcontractor Spirit AeroSystems.