Boeing CEO's Senate hearing: New whistleblower adds to turbulence

As Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun heads for the Senate hearing with a claim that the company's culture is 'far from perfect,' a fresh whistleblower claim has added to the chaos ensuing Boeing ever since its January mid-air incident involving an Alaska airline 737 MAX 9.

Sam Mohawk, a quality assurance investigator at Boeing, alleges that the company lost track of the 'bad parts' that were either damaged or not safety-compliant. Mohawk said that he was told to hide evidence from the Federal Aviation Administration. The evidence is that dozens of parts are stored outside FAA inspections.

Boeing has replied to the claims. 'We continuously encourage employees to report all concerns as our priority is to ensure the safety of our airplanes and the flying public.' Boeing also highlighted an expansion of the 'quality team' & increased number of inspections.

This adds to the company's long-standing woes with safety and quality concerns. FAA has received a growing number of complaints from Boeing employees, who have criticised the company's safety standards. Boeing is already facing prosecution threat for its potential violation of settlement tied to the 737 MAX crashes in 2018 & 2019. The National Safety Board had said that four key bolts were missing from the Alaska Airlines place. This has led to another criminal lawsuit.

Since the January 5 incident, scrutiny of Boeing has intensified. This led to a leadership shake-up and the ousting of CEO Calhoun in March. The hearing is set to start 18:00 GMT.