Boeing whistleblower says he was put in ‘hell’

Boeing whistleblower says he was put in ‘hell’

A Boeing engineer told US lawmakers that he was harassed and threatened after he raised concerns about the safety of the company’s planes.

Whistleblower Sam Salehpour said Wednesday that his boss scolded him in a 40-minute call and that his tire went flat on a nail.

He spoke at a hearing as part of a congressional inquiry into safety at the manufacturing giant.

Boeing says it is trying to improve its safety culture.

“We know we have more work to do and we are taking action across our company,” he said in a statement, after the hearing, one of two in Washington on Wednesday focusing on problems at the company.

The company has been in crisis since part of the fuselage of the new Boeing 737 Max 9, flown by Alaska Airlines, broke off after takeoff in January.

Passengers escaped serious injury, but the incident led to thousands of flight cancellations and re-inspections for Boeing – which had previously been forced to ground the 737 Max 8 after fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 killed 346 people.

The hearing brought together three whistleblowers who have emerged as some of the company’s most high-profile critics, including former safety officials at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Mr Salehpour, who has worked at Boeing for 17 years, said he had raised concerns about the alleged manufacturing cuts repeatedly over a three-year period starting in 2020, only to be told to “shut up”.

“I was ignored, I was told not to be late,” he said, adding that he was later transferred to a different role. “This is not a safety culture, where you are threatened [for] bringing up an issue.”

Senator Richard Blumenthal, who chaired the hearing, said his committee would investigate the issue. Only the announcement of the trial has prompted other whistleblowers to step forward, he said.

“This story is serious, even shocking,” he said. “There are serious allegations that Boeing has a broken safety culture and an unacceptable set of practices.”

He said it was a “moment of reckoning” for Boeing and promised further hearings that would involve officials from the company itself.

Boeing said retaliation was “absolutely prohibited” and that it had seen “an increase of over 500%” in reports from employees since January, “signifying progress towards a robust reporting culture that does not fear retaliation”.

“We continue to prioritize safety and quality above all else and share information transparently with our regulators, customers and other stakeholders,” the company said.

The government’s initial investigation into what happened on the Alaska Airlines flight found that a bolt was missing from the part that exploded. The company now faces a criminal investigation and other legal action.

The head of the National Transportation Safety Board has criticized Boeing and accused it of failing to fully cooperate with the investigation.

Another hearing witness, former Boeing manager Ed Pierson, who is now executive director for the Aviation Safety Foundation, accused the company of “covering up a crime”, saying he had privately shared documents related to the missing bolts with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

“There are some real problems at Boeing that need to be fixed,” said Senator Ron Johnson, citing pressure from all quarters to keep the jets flying.

“We all want Boeing to succeed,” he said. “People don’t want to take the action that might be necessary here. I think that’s just a horrible reality.”

Mr. Salehpour’s concerns centered on the Boeing 787, a wider plane that was not involved in the Alaska Airlines flight or previous fatal crash, but has been plagued by manufacturing issues.

He said the pieces that make up the fuselage were not joined together properly, which could increase the risk of failure over time.

He reported his concerns to the FAA in January and told them earlier this month.

The FAA has said it is investigating the allegations, which Boeing has disputed.

On Wednesday, Mr. Salehpour said he felt compelled to speak out, remembering a car partner who had worked on the space shuttle Challenger and his concerns were ignored. The shuttle exploded in flight in 1986.

Boeing has responded to her concerns with pressure and retaliation, including making it difficult for her to attend things like doctor’s appointments, she said.

Mr. Salehpour, who cried at one point during his testimony, said he”no evidence” that the spike in his tire had anything to do with Boeing but believed it happened while he was at work.

“This is the hell I am subject to,” he said.

Also on Wednesday, United Airlines, which is one of Boeing’s biggest customers, said it would receive compensation from the plane maker for the financial impact it suffered from the grounding of the 737 MAX 9.

The confidential agreement was filed a day after the airline blamed Boeing for taking a $200m (£161m) hit to its earnings in the first three months of the year.

United was forced to ground its Boeing 737 MAX 9 fleet for three weeks after the Alaska Airlines incident in January.