Boeing whistleblower warns of multiple casualties if safety issues not fixed

A whistleblower on Wednesday (Apr 17) addressed safety concerns regarding Boeing at a US Senate hearing as he said that hundreds of people could lose their lives if the company fails to address quality issues. Sam Salehpour, who is an engineer at the planemaker, even raised concerns over his safety for speaking up.

A few days ago, Salehpour reported safety issues over the manufacturing of some of the Boeing planes and accused the company of taking shortcuts in the construction of its 787 and 777 jets. He had previously claimed he was "threatened with termination" after raising concerns with bosses.

Salehpour, who worked at Boeing for more than 10 years, said in an interview broadcast Tuesday night that the 787 Dreamliner should be grounded immediately because of the risk it could "fall apart" mid-air, he told NBC.

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Salehpour alleged that employees who raise concern over safety are "ignored, marginalised, threatened, sidelined, and worse". He claimed that there is "no safety culture" at Boeing.

The whistleblower claimed that he had identified an issue with gaps between key sections of the 787 Dreamliner. According to him, the issue affected "more than 1,000" jets in service. He also warned that the issue would "likely cause premature fatigue failure over time in two major airplane joints".

Salehpour in his testimony wrote that he contacted Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut "because I genuinely believe that the safety problems I have observed at Boeing, if not addressed, could result in a catastrophic failure of a commercial airplane that would lead to the loss of hundreds of lives".

"I am determined to avoid such a result, regardless of the cost to my career," he added.

Blumenthal chaired Wednesday's hearing, which was titled "Examining Boeing's Broken Safety Culture: Firsthand Accounts". In an interview with CNBC Wednesday ahead of the hearing, he said that Boeing "has really hit a moment of reckoning".

Blumenthal urged the Department of Justice to investigate whether Boeing violated a 2021 deferred prosecution agreement that settled violations after the 2018 and 2019 crashes of two 737 MAX aircraft.

Boeing facessignificant scrutiny

Boeing landed in hot water ever since a door plug broke off in one of its smaller 737 Max 9 planes shortly after take-off in January.

Now, the planemaker is defending itself. For example on Monday, it hosted a media event with two senior engineers who provided detailed explanations about aircraft safety. They also refuted Salehpour's claims.

On Wednesday, United Airlines Chief Executive Scott Kirby also spoke highly of the 787. He told CNBC he was "totally confident the 787 is a safe airplane."

(With inputs from agencies)