Boeing's safety culture under the lens at US Senate hearings

WASHINGTON, D.C.: During two U.S. Senate hearings this week held in response to a January mid-air panel blowout on a 737 MAX 9, lawmakers scrutinized Boeing's safety culture and manufacturing quality.

During the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Boeing's treatment of whistleblowers, records surrounding the blown-out door plug on the Alaska Airlines narrowbody jet, and production concerns over two separate widebody jets were also questioned.

Former Boeing engineer Ed Pierson said he sent records given to him by an internal whistleblower to the FBI, which had important information about the Alaska Airlines door plug incident.

In response, Boeing said that it documents detailing the work on the opening, closing, and securing of the door plug that blew out were never created.

It "has not received any such documentation from Boeing or any other entity," said the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the blowout incident.

Since the Alaska Airlines incident on January 5, Boeing has changed its management, U.S. regulators have restricted its production, and plane deliveries fell by half in March.

During the hearing, whistleblower and former Boeing quality engineer Sam Salehpour, who raised questions about two of its widebody jets, claimed he was told to "shut up" when he brought up safety concerns and was removed from the 787 program and transferred to the 777 jet.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, subcommittee chairman, held up a 2021 memo from Salehpour stating that "kicking me out of the program because I am raising safety concerns" does not help anybody.

In a statement, Boeing defended its planes' safety record, noting that its 787 fleet has safely transported more than 850 million passengers, while the 777 has safely flown more than 3.9 billion.

"Retaliation is strictly prohibited at Boeing," the Seattle-based company added.

In a statement, the FAA said that every aircraft flying follows its airworthiness directives.

In late February, the agency said that Boeing must develop a comprehensive plan to address "systemic quality-control issues" within 90 days.

U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell said she expects Boeing to submit a serious plan in response to a FAA deadline.