A whistleblower told US regulators about safety worries about how some of Boeing’s planes are being built, which has put more pressure on the company. Sam Salehpour, an engineer, said that Boeing was cutting corners when building its 787 and 777 planes. He said he was “threatened with termination” after telling his bosses about his worries.
These claims were called “inaccurate” by Boeing, which also said it was sure its planes were safe. “The issues raised have been subject to rigorous engineering examination under [Federal Aviation Administration] oversight,” the firm said. “This analysis has validated that these issues do not present any safety concerns and the aircraft will maintain its service life over several decades.”
The company that makes planes saw its stock drop almost 2% on Tuesday after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it was looking into the claims. The company also said it had shipped just 83 planes to customers in the first three months of the year, which is the fewest since 2021.
The New York Times was the first to report on the whistleblower lawsuit. It is the latest event that has brought attention to the safety of Boeing planes, which is one of the two biggest makers of commercial planes in the world. After a broken exit door on one of its smaller 737 Max 9 planes shortly after takeoff in January, the company was already being investigated by the police and in other legal trouble.
Even though no one was seriously hurt, the event has put the company in a crisis, requiring the temporary grounding of dozens of 737 Max 9 planes, regulatory investigations, and a huge slowdown in the production of its planes.