A U.S. Senate group this week will dive into alarming allegations being made about the safety of Boeing aircraft.
Whistleblower Sam Salehpour, a Boeing engineer, alleges that the airline manufacturer took shortcuts when building its 777 and 787 Dreamliner jets, and that the risks could become catastrophic as the airplanes age, CNN reports.
The U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations announced it will examine what it calls “troubling whistleblower allegations regarding the safety of Boeing’s aircraft.” Salehpour is expected to testify at the hearings on 17APR.
Speaking on a conference call with reporters last week, Salehpour said his complaint raises “two quality issues that may dramatically reduce the life of the planes.”
“I am doing this not because I want Boeing to fail, but because I want it to succeed and prevent crashes from happening,” Salehpour said. “The truth is Boeing can’t keep going the way it is.”
“We are fully confident in the safety and durability of the 777 family,” Boeing said in a statement after Salehpour outlined his concerns. “These claims are inaccurate.”
It also disputed Salehpour’s comments about the 787.
“These claims about the structural integrity of the 787 are inaccurate and do not represent the comprehensive work Boeing has done to ensure the quality and long-term safety of the aircraft,” Boeing said in a statement.
USA Today said the hearing “comes as the U.S. planemaker has been grappling with a full-blown safety crisis that has undermined its reputation following a Jan. 5 mid-air panel blowout on a new 737 MAX 9. It has since undergone a management shakeup, U.S. regulators have put curbs on its production and its aircraft deliveries fell by half in March.”
