WASHINGTON (Gray DC) – Boeing took a lot of heat on Capitol Hill in a pair of Senate hearings Wednesday. The aircraft manufacturer is under scrutiny after whistleblowers made allegations of major safety failures with the company’s planes.
The Senate Homeland Security Investigations Subcommittee said the allegations against Boeing are “serious and shocking.”
An engineer-turned-whistleblower has accused the company of taking shortcuts in the making of its 777 and 787 Dreamliner jets. Sam Salehpour claimed crews, who have been building these planes since 2011, have failed to properly assemble separate parts. And as a result, he says the jets are vulnerable to breaking apart. Salehpour said he told his superiors but was threatened, transferred and silenced in retaliation.
Boeing has been doing damage control since a door-plug blew off an Alaska Airlines plane in January.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) asked Salehpour if the planes are safe. Salehpour shook his head …