Monday, December 13, 2021
US Senate alarmed
Whistleblowers warn of defects at Boeing
After two plane crashes with hundreds of deaths with the Boeing 737 Max, the aviation company is again in distress. According to a media report, an engineer points out the lack of safety and quality in the “Dreamliner” and speaks of a “dangerous” corporate culture.
According to a “Spiegel” report, the airline company Boeing is exposed to serious allegations of deficiencies in its own safety culture, including in the production of the 787 long-haul aircraft. Among other things, this was raised by an engineer from the US manufacturer in a complaint to the FAA, which the “Spiegel” had submitted. “The top management of the Boeing Group still does not take responsibility for the effectiveness of the quality system,” the magazine quotes from the letter dated October 25th. This corporate culture is “not conducive to the necessary safety of aviation products”. On the contrary: it is “dangerous”.
The man of German origin is a high-ranking engineer who works at Boeing in Seattle and is responsible for quality control of the many suppliers of the long-haul aircraft 787 (“Dreamliner”). The technician also made a statement to the US Senate, which should be published in a report on Monday.
The allegations hit Boeing at an inopportune time, the magazine continues. The 787 model is currently experiencing massive delays in delivery due to defective components. In the report of the US Senate, a draft of which is available to the “Spiegel”, a connection with the statements of Bickeböller is suggested. “According to Dr. Martin Bickeböller, the problems with the supply chain of the 787 go back to the deadline pressure and are therefore directly related to the current production issues for this aircraft,” the report says.
Boeing has rejected the allegations of Bickebollers and other whistleblowers against the “Spiegel”. A spokeswoman for the company said that safety and quality had the highest priority at Boeing. The company takes information from whistleblowers seriously and is carefully investigating the allegations. With regard to the current technical problems with the 787, it is in the process of completing a supply chain investigation and is in constant contact with the FAA. “Based on analyzes, none of the finds endanger the flight safety of the fleet in operation,” the Boeing spokeswoman is quoted as saying.