Another Boeing whistleblower has come forward, a Senate office announced, hours before Boeing’s CEO is scheduled to testify in Washington on Tuesday for the first time since a door plug on a 737 Max 9 blew off during an Alaska Airlines flight in January.
Office of Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) Identified the whistleblower Sam Mohawk, a quality assurance inspector for the aircraft manufacturer in Renton, Washington, alleges that Boeing improperly tracked and stored defective parts that likely ended up in planes, including the 737 Max, built at the Renton plant.
“Mohawk also alleges that his superiors instructed him to conceal evidence from the FAA and that he was retaliated against as a result,” according to a statement from the Senate Homeland Security Committee’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
“We received the document late Monday night and are reviewing the allegations. Our top priority is ensuring the safety of our aircraft and customers, and we continue to encourage employees to report any concerns they may have,” a Boeing spokesperson told The Hill.
Blumenthal chairs the Department of Homeland Security’s investigative subcommittee, which is scheduled to grill Boeing CEO David Calhoun at 2 p.m. EDT about the company’s “breakdown of safety culture.”
After the Alaska Airlines explosion in January, the outgoing CEO said Boeing “takes responsibility for what happened,” a sentiment he is expected to echo in his opening remarks before the subcommittee.
“From the beginning, we have worked together responsibly and transparently. [National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)] And that [Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)] According to a copy of Calhoun’s testimony obtained by The Hill ahead of the hearing, “in their respective investigations,
“We took immediate steps in our factories and supply chain to ensure the specific conditions that led to this incident never happen again,” Calhoun added. “Importantly, we went further and conducted a comprehensive review of our quality and manufacturing systems.”
Federal aviation experts cited “deficiencies” in Boeing’s safety culture in a February FAA report begun before the Alaska Airlines accident. The company last month filed an 11-page “Product Safety and Quality Plan” with the FAA detailing steps it has taken to improve its safety culture and how it will measure its progress.
Several whistleblowers have alleged that the company cut corners to boost profits and retaliated against employees who spoke out. Several testified before the subcommittee in April.
At the hearing, another Boeing quality engineer, Sam Salehpour, claimed he was isolated, transferred and threatened by the company after voicing concerns that the fuselages of the company’s 787 Dreamliners were not joined properly, threatening to cause the planes to break apart in flight.
“I have been raising these issues for three years now and have been ignored. I have been told not to create delays. Frankly, I have been told to shut up,” Salehpour said.
After the hearing, a Boeing spokesman told The Hill that the company is “fully confident in the safety and durability of the 787 Dreamliner” and that “after thorough and rigorous fuselage testing and extensive maintenance inspections of approximately 700 aircraft in service, we have found no evidence of aircraft fatigue.”
Boeing has been working to regain the trust of lawmakers in the wake of the Alaska Airlines crash, with a Boeing spokesperson previously telling The Hill that the company’s lobbying team reached out to all 535 members of Congress within a week of the crash.
Ahead of the hearing, Blumenthal expressed concern about “a culture that allows for retaliation against those who don’t follow through on their interests.”
“This is a culture that prioritizes profits, pushes boundaries and continues to ignore workers — a culture where voices are silenced and pushed aside and the responsibility is shifted onto the factory floor,” Blumenthal said in a statement.
