The Federal Aviation Administration will investigate allegations by a Boeing engineer that the company ignored multiple safety and quality alarms he raised while working on its 777 and 787 aircraft, Reuters reports, adding to the problems the aircraft manufacturer has had with the 737-Max airliner.
Sam Salehpour says that after he raised concerns with his supervisors, he was excluded from meetings and assembly shortcuts were introduced to speed up production of the first 787s that compromised the aircraft’s integrity. In 2021, the company sent a service warning saying that some shims–metal strips used to fill gaps–were not installed properly and did not meet the company’s requirement for fuselage smoothness. In 2022, Boeing was forced by the FAA to suspend deliveries of the 787 after similar issues were raised.
Salehpour says he saw procedures used to manufacture aircraft that caused “excessive stress on major airplane joints, and embedded drilling debris between key joints on more than 1,000 planes,” according to his lawsuit.