New Boeing Whistleblower Says 787 Planes Could 'Drop to the Ground' Midflight, Production Should be Halted
A Boeing employee said on Tuesday night that he would never allow his family to board one of the company’s 787 Dreamliner jets.
The man, a 15-year Boeing engineer, said he worked on the Dreamliner until 2022 when he was moved to another project after he raised safety concerns about the aircraft’s structural integrity.
The company denied that claim and said it does not tolerate retaliatory actions for employees who raise concerns with their supervisors.
But that hasn’t stopped Boeing quality engineer Sam Salehpour from claiming he was pulled off of his project because he had grave safety concerns.
Salehpour first went public with dire warnings about the aircraft a week ago when he told The New York Times that the Deamliner’s fuselage design could put passengers in danger.
He explained that the fuselages are manufactured in different pieces by separate companies and that in some cases there are significant gaps between them.
Salehpour said those pieces are fused together in a manner that he believes could compromise their strength as they are stressed by heavy use over time.
When speaking with NBC News, the engineer-turned-whistleblower claimed Dreamliners could eventually “drop to the ground” midair if the production issues he raised are not addressed.
The network asked Salehpour if he would board one of the jets with his family, and he replied, “Right now, I would not.”
He also said he would not be dissuaded from speaking about the issues he brought up or from talking about them in front of members of Congress Wednesday during a Senate subcommittee hearing on the matter.
“When I see questionable actions that could cause safety problems, I have committed I’m going to come forward regardless of what the cost is,” Salehpour said.
Salehpour called the issues with the Dreamliner “as serious as I’ve ever seen in my lifetime,” while speaking with “NBC Nightly News.”
He said he thinks the entire fleet of more than 1,100 plans should be grounded immediately and production halted.
On coming forward to address the jet, which has been in service internationally since 2011, Salehpour said, “I’m at peace with myself because this is going to save a lot of people’s lives.”
Boeing denied Salehpour’s claims that its fleet of Dreamliners were unsafe in a statement to NBC News.
“These claims about the structural integrity of the 787 are inaccurate,” the company said. “The issues raised have been subject to rigorous engineering examination under FAA oversight.”
The Dreamliner is more lightweight than many long-distance aircraft in its class and is known for being fuel efficient and for being able to squeeze hundreds of passengers aboard.
Salehpour is just the latest Boeing employee-turned-whistleblower to come forward this year as the company has seen its fleet of planes experience issue after issue — including the January grounding of most 737-9 Max jets.
Luckily, none of the recent issues have been fatal.
Lisa Banks, an attorney for Salehpour, told NBC News she had personally spoken with at least six “additional would-be whistleblowers at Boeing who have reported the same kinds of issues that Sam has raised with Boeing.”
Salehpour’s public comments about the Dreamliner come a month after another Boeing whistleblower named John Barnett died in South Carolina before a deposition with his former employer’s attorneys in a lawsuit against the company.
Barnett’s death was ruled to have been a suicide.
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