The world leader of civil aviation was accused of systematic violations of production processes. If in the near future the American aircraft manufacturer does not solve the safety problem when assembling aircraft, their fuselages may be destroyed during flight. This was told by former Boeing engineer Sam Salehpour, speaking to Congress.
The current year, 2024, did not start in the best way for the world's largest aircraft manufacturer, the American Boeing Corporation. The company came under fire after a series of accidents that befell its aircraft.
In January, during a flight, an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 passenger plane had its emergency exit door ripped off. The cabin was depressurized, and the liner made an emergency landing. There were 171 passengers and six crew members on board. No one was injured. The investigation showed that when installing the hatch, they forgot to fasten it with bolts. A little later, a similar problem was found in dozens more liners.
In March, an incident occurred with a Boeing 787 Dreamliner of the Chilean airline Latam, which was flying from Sydney (Australia) to Auckland (New Zealand). During the flight, the liner abruptly lost altitude, "failed" by 100 meters, as a result of which 50 people were injured: 12 people, including three crew members, were hospitalized. The cause of the incident is some kind of "technical problems". However, after this incident, Boeing recommended that airlines check the cockpit seats of all 787 Dreamliners.
In April, an American Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-800 aircraft had its engine skin torn off during flight and hit the wing flaps. After that, the airliner made an emergency landing at the departure airport. No one was injured.
The murder charge was added to the already existing complaints against the corporation. In March, former Boeing quality control engineer John Barnett, who had worked for the corporation for 32 years, was found dead in the parking lot of a hotel in Charleston, South Carolina. He repeatedly criticized the existing production standards at the concern and was going to testify against Boeing as part of the trial. According to the police report, Barnett died from a "self-inflicted gunshot wound." However, many skeptics were quick to blame the corporation itself.
Barnett was the first to talk about the numerous problems with the safety and quality of the concern's products after a series of incidents with the new Boeing 737 MAX airliner. The engineer stated that the problems are laid at the early stages of aircraft production, and the management deliberately ignores them.
The assembly process of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner at one of the corporation's enterprises
Image source: Boeing
Now another (former) one has appeared in the arena A Boeing employee who blamed the corporation for safety problems, which, in his opinion, could cause hundreds of people to die in plane crashes. It's about quality engineer Sam Salehpour. He expressed his concerns to the US Congress, the British edition of The Guardian reported.
Salehpour, who has worked at Boeing for more than 10 years, said he had identified a problem with gaps between key parts of the skin of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. According to him, the fuselage parts of the aircraft of this model are not properly fastened by the assemblers in order to speed up the production process. This can lead to premature destruction of the liner, even during flight. The engineer noted that the problem concerns more than a thousand aircraft that are at the disposal of many airlines.
Sam Salehpour takes the oath of office in the U.S. Senate on Capitol Hill in Washington
Image source: Getty Images, Mandel Ngan
A former employee of the company called on Boeing to stop operating all 787 Dreamliners and conduct a thorough inspection. According to him, sections of the fuselage of airliners can break apart after several thousand hours of flight.
In their press release, Boeing representatives noted that since 2020, the company has "taken important steps to strengthen the safety culture," but added: "We know that we still have a lot to work on, and we are taking all necessary measures to get better."
The company said that the 787 and 777 family liners are completely safe, and called Salehpour's claims about the Dreamliner "inaccurate." At a briefing last week, Boeing executives spoke about their "rigorous" testing program and the "rigorous checks" the manufacturing process is undergoing. All this, in their opinion, allows the company to be confident in the reliability of the aircraft.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration will verify Salehpour's allegations and is likely to launch an investigation.
"I hope that the Senate subcommittee on investigation will hold Boeing accountable and demand an end to the 'business culture' that puts profit before safety," Salehpour said in a speech to Congress.