Boeing engineers arrive to testify before the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Investigations Subcommittee during a hearing on “Investigating Boeing’s Broken Safety Culture: A First-hand Report” at the Capitol in Washington. U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (left) welcomes Sam Salepour. DC, April 17, 2024.
Drew Angerer | AFP | Getty Images
boeingTwo Senate hearings on Wednesday questioned the company’s safety, as the company faces increased scrutiny after one of its planes suffered a near-disastrous mid-air door explosion in January. Gender and quality were once again under fire.
A Boeing engineer-turned-whistleblower testified before a Senate committee, repeating claims that the plane maker cut corners to get wide-body jets through production lines despite defects. Sam Salepour said the company failed to properly shim a small gap in the 787 Dreamliner’s fuselage junction, which “could ultimately lead to premature fatigue failure without warning.” There is,” he claimed. Shims are thin materials used to fill small gaps.
“Boeing can do better, and Boeing I believe that the public’s trust in the company can be restored.”
Boeing denied the allegations as inaccurate and defended the plane and its testing. On Monday, the company briefed reporters on what it called thorough fatigue testing of its 787 and 777 planes for about two hours and said no safety risks were found.
Scott Kirby CEO united airlinesA major Dreamliner operator on Wednesday dismissed concerns about the plane.
“I have complete confidence that the 787 is a safe airplane,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
Still, when the door panel of a Boeing 737 Max 9 exploded on January 5th, alaska airlines The 16,000-foot flight once again put Boeing’s safety culture in the spotlight and caused a crisis for the manufacturer. Deliveries of new aircraft from Boeing are slowing as the Federal Aviation Administration tightens scrutiny of the company’s production lines.
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun announced last month that he would step down by the end of the year while the company replaced the head of its commercial aircraft division and the chairman of the board.
The move comes after a Congressional-mandated panel of experts released a report earlier this year that found a “disconnect” between Boeing’s senior management and the rest of the organization regarding safety culture. A separate hearing Wednesday by the Senate Commerce Committee focused on Boeing’s safety culture.
