Boeing (BA) whistleblower Sam Salehpour has just revealed in a U.S. Senate hearing, which took place on April 17, that he has received “physical threats” after witnessing and raising concerns internally over the company allegedly “taking manufacturing shortcuts” during its production of several airplanes. Salehpour also said that he is “at peace” if something happens to him for shedding light on Boeing’s safety issues.
“I have analyzed Boeing’s own data to conclude that the company is taking manufacturing shortcuts on the 787 program that may significantly reduce the airplane safety and the life cycle,” said Salehpour during the hearing. “Since 2013, there have been serious issues on the 787 program not properly closing thousands of gaps in its assembly of the fuselage on major joints.”
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On Jan. 5 an Alaska Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing after a door plug blew off of the Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft mid-flight. The incident led to an investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration, which is looking into Boeing’s safety and quality control practices. Several other incidents involving the company’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner and 777 aircrafts later followed, further heightening safety concerns.
Salehpour claims that Boeing allegedly “hit problems” during its production of its Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircrafts when it started pushing pieces together with “excessive force” to try to close the gaps, which he said didn’t end up going away. As a result, Salepur said that debris ended up in the gaps 80% of the time.
“Effectively, they are putting out defective airplanes,” he said during the hearing.
Salehpour also revealed that after he raised concerns over the issues he witnessed with manufacturing, he was moved out of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner program.
Members of the National Transportation Safety Board examine the hole in the fuselage plug area of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 Boeing 737-9 MAX on January 7, 2024 in Portland, Oregon.
“I have raised these issues over 3 years, I was ignored, I was told not to create delays, I was told frankly to ‘shut up,’” said Salehpour. “At one point, Boeing management got sick of me raising these issues and moved me out of the 787 program into this Triple 7 program.”
When Salehpour was moved to the program that assembled the Boeing 777 aircrafts (the Triple 7 program), he said that he witnessed “severe misalignment” when the airplanes were being put together.
“Boeing manufacturing used (an) unmeasured and unlimited amount of force to correct the misalignment, and this also weakens the airplane in the long run,” said Salehpour. “I literally saw people jumping on the pieces of the airplane to get them to align, I call it the Tarzan effect, among other improper methods.”
Salehpour said that he once again raised concerns internally and received “physical threats” as a result.
Witness Boeing engineer Sam Salehpour gestures while testifying before a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee on investigations hearing titled “Boeing’s broken safety culture, focusing on firsthand accounts” at the U.S. Capitol on April 17, 2024 in Washington, DC.
Kent Nishimura/Getty Images
“I was sidelined, I was told to shut up, I received physical threats,” said Salehpour. “My boss said ‘I would have killed someone who said what you said in a meeting.’”
He also claims that his boss called him on his personal phone, despite having a work phone, where he was “berated” and “chewed” out for 40 minutes for raising concerns over production issues.
“After the threats, and after this, you know it really scares me, believe me, but I am at peace if something happens to me,” said Salehpour. “I am at peace because I feel like by coming forward I will be saving a lot of lives, and I’m at peace. Whatever happens, it happens.”
The last Boeing employee who raised concerns over the company’s production practices was found dead in a vehicle on March 9 from a “self inflicted gunshot wound” one day after he testified in a deposition revealing the safety issues he witnessed at Boeing’s production plant.
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