Congress steps up pressure on Boeing over plane safety

2024-06-18 20:14:59, Kosova & Bota CNA

Congress steps up pressure on Boeing over plane safety

David Calhoun, CEO of the Boeing Company. Source, AP

US senators on Tuesday began questioning Boeing Co's chief executive about plans to fix problems on the plane's production lines. Also present during the question-and-answer session are the relatives of the people who died in the crash of two Boeing 737 Max planes.

CEO David Calhoun appeared before the Senate's permanent investigative subcommittee, which is led by Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who has been critical of Boeing.

It is the first time a senior Boeing executive has appeared before Congress since a panel broke off in January on an Alaska Airlines 737 Max.

During this incident, there were no injuries, but it caused new concerns for the best-selling aircraft of this company.

Hours before Mr. Calhoun's appearance, the Senate subcommittee released a 204-page report with new allegations from a whistleblower that defective parts or improper documentation may be being installed on the 737 Max planes.

Sam Mohawk, a quality investigator at the 737 factory in Seattle, claims that Boeing hid evidence of the situation after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) informed the company about a year ago that it would inspect the factory.

"After the Boeing Company received notice, it ordered most of these parts that were kept in the open environment to be sent to another location," Mr. Mohawk was quoted as saying in the report. "About 80% of the parts were moved to avoid the watchful eyes of FAA inspectors."

These pieces were then returned, or lost, Mr. Mohawk said. Among them were vital parts for keeping the aircraft under control, such as parts of the wings, tail and rudder.

A spokesman for Boeing said it received the subcommittee's report late Monday and was looking into the allegations. "We constantly encourage employees to report all concerns, as our priority is to ensure the safety of our aircraft and passengers."

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it will "rigorously investigate" the allegations contained in the Senate report.

The Senate subcommittee said the newly disclosed documents and whistleblower accounts "paint a disturbing picture of a company that prioritizes production speed and cost reduction over aircraft quality and safety."

The 737 Max has a troubled history. The Justice Department is considering whether to file a lawsuit against Boeing for violating the terms of a settlement reached with the company over allegations it misled the regulatory agencies that approved the type of aircraft. Max jets crashed in 2018 in Indonesia and in 2019 in Ethiopia, killing 346 people. After these tragedies, the FAA did not allow the flight of any aircraft of this type for almost a year and a half.

According to Mr. Mohawk, the use of these unacceptable parts multiplied after production of Max aircraft resumed when the ban period ended. Due to this large increase, the leaders had given instructions to delete all the data that could indicate that inappropriate parts were installed on the planes./ VOA