It seems that Boeing is going through a black patch. Recently, it has been heavily criticized for problems with airplane safety. And with good reason.
Last week, a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-800 took off from Denver International Airport with a The engine cover has fallen offThe airplane’s engine was damaged by a flap. A week earlier, the same Southwest aborted a Boeing 737-800 flight at Texas International Airport after the crew reported engine problems. In January one of the Boeing airplanes had an emergency exit door fall off during a flight at an altitude of 5 km. And in 2018 and 2019, there were disasters involving Boeing 737 Maxes that killed 189 and 157 people, respectively.
In addition, last month, a corporate whistleblower and former longtime Boeing employee who had sued the company was found dead in a motel parking lot. Despite the fact that the man’s death was ruled a suicide, the incident sparked conspiracy theories and further exacerbated the public relations crisis.
And now a new whistleblower has emerged to make disturbing accusations against the company.
Former engineer Sam Salehpour, who worked at Boeing for more than a decade, filed a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration in January about his concerns. The complaints mainly concern the Boeing 787 Dreamliner airplane. The former engineer says the company introduced manufacturing changes in the way «sections of the plane were fitted and fastened together on the assembly line» and they could, after thousands of flights, cause the fuselage of the plane «to break apart» in the air. According to him, an airplane fuselage consists of several parts, all from different manufacturers. The problem is that they are not exactly the same shape in the parts where they fit together.
Boeing has confirmed that the manufacturing changes cited by Salehpour exist, but denies that they lead to safety issues. The statement claims that the company has «full confidence in the 787 Dreamliner» and that the allegations of safety issues are «inaccurate and do not reflect the comprehensive work that Boeing has done to ensure the quality and long-term safety of the airplane».
Salehpour continues to stand by his opinion and is scheduled to appear at a congressional hearing next week. The whistleblower has been invited to appear before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Investigations on April 17.
«I’m not doing this because I want Boeing to fail, but because I want it to succeed and prevent disasters,» Salehpour told reporters. «The truth is, Boeing can’t keep going the way it is. I think it needs to do a little bit better».
Source: gizmodo