Boeing hid safety risks, witnesses tell Senate

In sworn testimony before a U.S. Senate hearing Wednesday, a Boeing engineer reiterated his accusation that Boeing has hidden safety risks on the 787 Dreamliner and the 777 widebody jets, rejecting the account that Boeing provided Monday in an effort to reassure the public.

And a former Boeing manager accused the company of a “criminal cover-up” in the government’s investigation of the fuselage panel blowout aboard a Boeing 737 Max on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 in January.

A bipartisan group of senators piled on criticism of Boeing during the hearing before a Homeland Security subcommittee. A separate hearing on safety issues at Boeing was held at the same time before the Senate Commerce Committee. The Senate scrutiny reflected the collapse of public trust in the U.S. jet maker and the fierce backlash since the alarming Alaska incident.

“Boeing is at a moment of reckoning. It’s a moment many years in the making,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, who chaired the hearing, calling the testimony “serious, even shocking.”

“There are mounting serious allegations that Boeing has a broken safety culture and a set of practices that are unacceptable,” he said.

The Republican ranking member on the committee, Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, joined the chorus of Boeing criticism, even after noting that air travel has the best safety record of any form of transportation.

“It’s what I keep telling myself when I go on an airplane. And even when I hop on a 737 Max,” Johnson said. “But I have to admit, this testimony is more than troubling.”

Blumenthal said the committee will call further follow-up hearings and wants both the FAA and Boeing to testify, including Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun.

Boeing quality engineer and whistleblower Sam Salehpour repeated public assertions offered last week that 787 Dreamliners are at risk of longterm structural failure due to gaps at the fuselage joins and that the 777 widebody jet is also being poorly manufactured.

Salehpour said management has concealed the safety threat. He described being sidelined, harassed and verbally threatened when he raised his concerns internally over the past three years.

“I have analyzed Boeing’s own data to conclude that the company has taken manufacturing shortcuts on the 787 program that may significantly reduce the airplane safety,” Salehpour testified.

Former Boeing manager Ed Pierson described a culture of ignoring safety risks at Boeing and failed oversight by both the NTSB and FAA.