A US lawmaker has accused Boeing executives of being “share price-obsessed’ at a Washington hearing into a mid-air panel blowout on one of the manufacturer’s 737 Max aircraft in January.
Boeing has been under intense pressure to explain and strengthen its safety procedures after the accident on a new Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9. It has undergone a management shakeup, US aviation regulators have put curbs on its production, and deliveries fell by half in March.
Members of the Senate commerce committee said yesterday that Boeing still needs to do more to improve its safety culture. Panel members released a report in February criticising some of the aircraft maker’s safety practices following two crashes involving the 737 Max which killed a combined 346 people in 2018 and 2019.
Maria Cantwell, head of the committee, said she expects Boeing to submit a serious plan in response to a deadline from regulator the Federal Aviation Administration. In late February, the FAA said Boeing must develop a comprehensive plan to address “systemic quality-control issues” within 90 days.
Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat senator, said: “I personally think that Boeing’s recent manufacturing problems are merely a symptom of a much deeper problem, the destruction of a proper safety culture by, you know, share price-obsessed executives..
Advertisement
Sam Salehpour, a current Boeing quality engineer and whistleblower, also gave testimony and submitted documents.
Salehpour has claimed that Boeing failed to adequately shim, or use a thin piece of material to fill tiny gaps in a manufactured product, an omission that could cause premature fatigue failure over time in some areas of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
He said he had raised questions about two of the plane maker’s widebody jets, and claimed he was told to “shut up” when he flagged safety concerns. He has said that he was removed from the 787 programme and transferred to the 777 jet due to his questions.
Boeing has challenged Salehpour’s claims against two of its widebody jets, the 787 and 777, which fly internationally. Boeing said this week it has not found fatigue cracks on in-service 787 jets that have gone through heavy maintenance.
In a statement yesterday, Boeing defended the safety of the twin-aisle jets, arguing that the global 787 fleet has safely transported more than 850 million passengers, while the 777 has safely flown more than 3.9 billion travelers.
Advertisement
The FAA said in a statement that every aircraft flying is in compliance with the regulator’s airworthiness directives.
