Boeing planes: Firm faces fresh allegations from engineer Sam Salehpour who saw people 'jumping' on plane parts 'to get them to align'

Boeing is under intense pressure and scrutiny once again as the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating new claims made by another whistleblower that the company dismissed safety and quality concerns. A Boeing engineer claims the company employed shortcuts in the production of 787 and 777 jets, an agency spokesman said on Tuesday (9 April).

The allegations come from Sam Salehpour who his attorneys say was faced with threats and exclusion from meetings after he identified engineering problems that affected the structural integrity of the jets. Mr Salehpour works at Boeing’s plant in Everett, Washington and also claimed the company employed shortcuts to reduce bottlenecks during 787 Dreamliner assembly.

He said: “I am doing this not because I want Boeing to fail, but because I want it to succeed and prevent crashes from happening. The truth is Boeing can’t keep going the way it is. It needs to do a little bit better, I think.”

Mr Salehpour alleged he observed shortcuts used by Boeing to reduce bottlenecks during the 787 assembly process that placed “excessive stress on major aeroplane joints and embedded drilling debris between key joints on more than 1,000 planes”. He told reporters in a call later on Tuesday that he saw problems with misalignment in the production of the 777 widebody jet which were remedied by using force. He said: “I literally saw people jumping on the pieces of the plane to get them to align.”

In 2021, Boeing said some 787 planes had shims that were not the proper size and some aircraft had areas that did not meet skin-flatness specifications. A shim is a thin piece of material used to fill tiny gaps in a manufactured product.

The firm previously halted deliveries of the 787 widebody jet for more than a year until August 2022 as the FAA investigated quality problems and manufacturing flaws. The FAA said: “Voluntary reporting without fear of reprisal is a critical component in aviation safety. We strongly encourage everyone in the aviation industry to share information. We thoroughly investigate all reports.”

In a statement, Boeing said it was fully confident in the 787 Dreamliner, adding that the claims “are inaccurate and do not represent the comprehensive work Boeing has done to ensure the quality and long-term safety of the aircraft”. The new allegations come after a former quality manager at Boeing also raised the alarm over safety concerns earlier this year.

John Barnett gave evidence in a whistleblower lawsuit against the firm in which he was questioned by Boeing's lawyers, before being cross-examined by his own counsel. He had raised concerns about Boeing’s 737 Max 9 planes being back in service again so quickly after the Alaska Airlines incident on 5 January which saw a door plug blow off the jet shortly after takeoff.

He told TMZ Live on Wednesday, 31 January that he is “concerned” about the aircraft being back up in the air as jobs are “not being completed properly”. He said that “they have done due diligence and inspections to ensure that the door plugs on the 737 are installed properly” but “my concern is what about the rest of the aeroplane?”. He added that he has these concerns because “inspection steps have been removed” and issues are “being ignored”. 

Mr Barnett was found dead on Saturday 9 March at a hotel car park while he was in the middle of the Boeing lawsuit. The Charleston County coroner confirmed his death to the BBC on Monday 11 March) and said the 62-year-old had died from a "self-inflicted" wound.

He had been due to undergo further questioning but he did not appear. Enquiries were made at his hotel and he was subsequently found dead in his truck in the hotel car park.