- Natalie Sherman
- bbc news
Boeing engineers have told U.S. lawmakers that they were harassed and threatened after raising concerns about the safety of the company's planes.
Whistleblower Sam Salepour said Wednesday that his boss assaulted him during a 40-minute phone call that left him with a nail in his tire.
His claims will be considered as part of a parliamentary inquiry into safety at the manufacturing giant.
Boeing said it is cooperating with the investigation.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment after a whistleblower hearing in Washington on Wednesday, one of two to focus on the company's problems.
The airline has been in crisis since a new Boeing 737 Max 9 operated by Alaska Airlines broke off after takeoff in January.
No passengers were seriously injured, but the incident led to thousands of canceled flights and brought new scrutiny to Boeing. Boeing grounded the 737 Max 8 in 2018 and 2019 following major crashes that killed 346 people.
The hearing brought together three whistleblowers who have emerged as the company's most prominent critics, including a former Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) safety official.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who led the hearing, said the committee would examine the company's safety culture. Other whistleblowers reportedly came forward just by announcing the hearing.
“This story is serious, even shocking,” he said. “There are growing serious allegations that Boeing has a broken safety culture and unacceptable practices.”
He said this was a “time of reckoning” for Boeing and promised further hearings involving Boeing itself.
A preliminary government investigation into what happened on board the Alaska Airlines flight found that the blown part was missing a bolt. The company is currently facing a criminal investigation, among other lawsuits.
The chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board criticized Boeing, accusing it of not fully cooperating with the investigation.
Another witness at the hearing, Ed Pearson, a former Boeing manager and current executive director of the Aviation Safety Foundation, accused Boeing of a “criminal cover-up” and privately shared documents about the Bolt shortage with the Federal Aviation Administration. He said he was doing so. Investigation (FBI).
“Boeing has some real problems that they need to solve,” said Sen. Ron Johnson, noting that there is pressure from all sides to keep the jets flying.
“We all want Boeing to succeed,” he said. “People don't want to take the actions that might be needed here. I think that's just a terrible reality.”
Salepour, who worked for Boeing for 17 years, reported his concerns to the FAA in January and made them public earlier this month.
They are focusing on Boeing's 787 planes, which have been plagued by manufacturing problems, but not the ones involved in the Alaska Airlines flight or the previous fatal crashes.
He argued that the parts that make up the plane's body were not properly joined together, potentially increasing the risk of failure over time.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it was investigating the claims, which Boeing disputes.
Salepour said at one point he was forced to speak up through tears, as his fellow passengers who worked on the Challenger felt their concerns were ignored. The shuttle exploded in flight in 1986.
He said Boeing transferred him to another job, making it more difficult for him to attend doctor's appointments and other appointments.
Salepour said there was “no evidence” that the nail in the tire had anything to do with Boeing, but he believed it happened on the job.
“This is the hell I went through,” he said.