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Boeing whistleblower says he was put through 'hell'

2 hours ago
By Natalie Sherman,
BBC News

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Getty Images Boeing engineer, Sam Salehpour testifies before the US Senate Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Investigations during a hearing
on "Examining Boeing's Broken Safety Culture: Firsthand Accounts," at Capitol Hill
in Washington, DC, on April 17, 2024.Getty Images
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 berated him in a 40-minute
call and his tyre was punctured by a nail.

He spoke at a hearing as part of a congressional investigation into safety at the

manufacturing giant.

Boeing said it was trying to improve its safety culture.

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

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

Passengers escaped serious injury, but the incident led to thousands of flight
cancellations and renewed scrutiny of Boeing - which previously had to ground the
737 Max 8 after deadly 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 a former safety official at the
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Mr Salehpour, who has worked at Boeing for 17 years, said he had raised concerns
about alleged manufacturing shortcuts repeatedly over three years starting in 2020,
only to be told "to shut up".

"I was ignored, I was told not to create delays," he said, adding that he was later
transferred to a different role. "This is not a safety culture, where you get
threatened [for] bringing issues."
Senator Richard Blumenthal, who led the hearing, said his committee would
investigate the issue. Just the announcement of the hearing had prompted other
whistleblowers to step forward, he said.

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

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

Boeing said retaliation was "strictly prohibited" and it had seen a "more than 500%
increase" in reports from employees since January, "which signals progress toward a
robust reporting culture that is not fearful of retaliation".

"We continue to put safety and quality above all else and share information
transparently with our regulator, customers and other stakeholders," the company
said.

A preliminary government investigation of what happened on the Alaska Airlines

flight found that bolts were missing on the piece that blew off. The company now
faces a criminal investigation and other lawsuits.

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

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

"There are some real problems at Boeing that have to get fixed," said Senator Ron
Johnson, while noting the pressure from all corners to keep jets flying.

"We all want Boeing to succeed," he said. "People don't want to take the actions
that might be required here. I think that's just an awful reality."

Mr Salehpour's concerns focused on the Boeing 787, a wider aircraft that was not
the one involved in the Alaska Airlines flight or the earlier deadly crashes, but
has been plagued by manufacturing issues.

He has said that the pieces making up the body of the plane were not being properly
joined, which could raise the risk of failure over time.

He reported his concerns to the FAA in January and went public with them earlier
this month.

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

On Wednesday, Mr Salehpour said he felt compelled to speak out, mindful of a

carpool buddy who had worked on the Challenger shuttle and had his concerns
ignored. The shuttle exploded in flight in 1986.

Boeing had responded to his concerns with pressure and retaliation, including
making it more difficult for him to attend things like doctor appointments, he
said.

Mr Salehpour, who teared up at one point during his testimony, said he had "no
proof" that the nail in his tyre was related to Boeing but believed it happened
while he was at work.

"This is hell that I was subjected to," he said.

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