FAA probes Boeing engineer’s claims of 787 Dreamliner flaws
WASHINGTON — The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating claims made by a Boeing engineer who says that sections of the fuselage of the 787 Dreamliner are improperly fastened together and could break apart mid-flight after thousands of trips.
The engineer, Sam Salehpour, who worked on the plane, detailed his allegations in interviews with The New York Times and in documents sent to the FAA. A spokesperson for the agency confirmed that it was investigating the allegations but declined to comment on them.
Salehpour, whose resume says he has worked at Boeing for more than a decade, said the problems with fastening the sections came about as a result of changes in how the enormous sections were fitted and fastened together in the manufacturing assembly line. The fuselages for the plane come in several pieces, all from different manufacturers, and they are not exactly the same shape where they fit together, he said.
Boeing concedes those manufacturing changes were made, but a spokesperson for the company, Paul Lewis, said there was “no impact on durability or safe longevity of the airframe.”
Lewis said Boeing had done extensive testing on the Dreamliner and “determined that this is not an immediate safety of flight issue.”
“Our engineers are completing complex analysis to determine if there may be a long-term fatigue concern for the fleet in any area of the airplane,” Lewis said. “This would not become an issue for the in-service fleet for many years to come, if ever, and we are not rushing the team so that we can ensure that analysis is comprehensive.”
In a subsequent statement, Boeing said it was “fully confident in the 787 Dreamliner,” adding, “These claims about the structural integrity of the 787 are inaccurate and do not represent the comprehensive work Boeing has done to ensure the quality and long-term safety of the aircraft.”
Salehpour’s allegations add another element to the intense scrutiny that Boeing has been facing since a door panel blew off a 737 Max jet during an Alaska Airlines flight in early January, raising questions about the company’s manufacturing practices. Since then, the planemaker has announced a leadership overhaul, and the Justice Department has begun a criminal investigation.
Salehpour’s concerns are set to receive an airing on Capitol Hill this month. Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat who is the chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s investigations subcommittee, is planning to hold a hearing with Salehpour on April 17. Blumenthal said he wanted the flying public to hear from the engineer firsthand.
“Repeated, shocking allegations about Boeing’s manufacturing failings point to an appalling absence of safety culture and practices — where profit is prioritized over everything else,” Blumenthal said in a statement.
The Dreamliner is a wide-body jet that is more fuel efficient than many other aircraft used for long trips, in part because of its lightweight composite construction. First delivered in 2011, the twinaisle plane has both racked up orders for Boeing and created headaches for the company. For years, the planemaker has dealt with a succession of issues involving the jet, including battery problems that led to the temporary grounding of 787s around the world.
Boeing has also confronted a slew of problems at its plant in South Carolina where the Dreamliner
is built. A prominent Boeing whistle-blower who raised concerns about manufacturing practices at the plant, John Barnett, was found dead last month with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The Dreamliner was a pioneer in using large amounts of so-called composite materials rather than traditional metal to build the plane, including major sections like the fuselage, as the aircraft’s body is known. Often made by combining materials such as carbon and glass fibers, composites are lighter than metals but, as comparatively newer materials, less is known about how they hold up to the long-term stresses of flight. Those stresses create what engineers call fatigue, which can compromise safety if it causes the material to fail.
Salehpour said he was repeatedly retaliated against for raising concerns about shortcuts he believed the planemaker was taking in joining together the pieces of the Dreamliner’s fuselage.
Debra S. Katz, a lawyer for Salehpour, said her client did everything possible to bring his concerns to the attention of Boeing officials. She added that company officials did not listen. Instead, she said her client was silenced and transferred.