Posted on 04/09/2024 7:50:03 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
Whistleblower Sam Salehpour, a Boeing engineer, alleges that Boeing took shortcuts when manufacturing its 777 and 787 Dreamliner jets, and that the risks could become catastrophic as the airplanes age.
His formal complaint to the Federal Aviation Administration, filed in January and made public on Tuesday, is not specific to the newer 737 Max jet that has been grounded twice…
Salehpour on said his complaint raises “two quality issues that may dramatically reduce the life of the planes.”
“I am doing this not because I want Boeing to fail, but because I want it to succeed and prevent crashes from happening,” Salehpour told reporters on a conference call Tuesday.
Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner planes, which entered service in 2011, could have 50-year lifespans – around 44,000 flights each, the company says.
But Salehpour’s complaint alleges crews assembling the plane failed to properly fill tiny gaps when joining separately manufactured parts of the fuselage. That puts more wear on the plane, shortening its lifespan and risking “catastrophic” failure…
The allegations aren’t entirely new: For nearly two years starting in 2021, the FAA and Boeing halted deliveries of the new Dreamliners while it looked into the gaps. Boeing said it made changes in its manufacturing process, and deliveries ultimately resumed.
“I literally saw people jumping on the pieces of the airplane to get them to align,” Salehpour said. “By jumping up and down, you’re deforming parts so that the holes align temporarily … and that’s not how you build an airplane.”
Salehpour said Boeing retaliated against him after he raised another concern about the 787 and a different plane model.
The whistleblower complaint said he pointed out to management the existence of drilling issues with the 787, and was then “ignored and ultimately transferred out of the 787 program to the 777 program.”
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
The Dreamliner has been flawed for years, The FAA - along with the whole world - knows that.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_787_Dreamliner#Accidents_and_incidents
Wasn’t a recent airline whistleblower found dead?
Yes. IIRC, it involved the 737-MAX planes.
Yes sadly, and likely why more are not coming forward.
I hope this guy’s got his “paperwork” in order...
Boeing knows what to do with whistle blowers, don’t they?
Well, he’s a goner now.
Don’t have any recent viability on the 787 program but I have two observations.
First, the composite technology used on the 87 is extensive and very sophisticated and complicated. If done right , it’s awesome, if there are problems they can be very problematic.
Second, there is always some malcontent people in any program who make assertions that are negative to a project. They often are completely wrong opinions and they usually have a second agenda on their accusations.
Agree. A few years back I was involved in monitoring and assessing composites as they were integrated in the F-22 and the 87. Flew on the 87 a couple times on transatlantic flights. Comfortable, quiet and enjoyable. Just me talking. . .
Stay on narrative!
Boeing is doomed,
Airbus is grounding hundreds of A330’s this year yet their stock is up 25% while Boeing stock is down 25%.
We need to stay on narrative and see to more obscene transfer of cap value to Airbus.
If passengers are still crammed in like cattle, what is dreamy about it?
Your flying along when crack..snap..pop..shred, you are outside the aircraft which is just a bunch of shredded carbon fiber pieces.
Your link shows seven accidents with no hull losses across over 1100 aircraft since the 787 started service. That is 0.6% of all 787s in service. This accident rate is hardly evidence of “flawed for years.”
I found this claim interesting -“I literally saw people jumping on the pieces of the airplane to get them to align,” Salehpour said. “By jumping up and down, you’re deforming parts so that the holes align temporarily … and that’s not how you build an airplane.”
Okay, if heavy maintenance is doing that on a plane with say 5-10 YEARS on it, sadly that’s somewhat normal since as the plane flies it’s subject to dynamic forces and literally bends. So any parts made to production blueprints may need “help” to fit.
If this happened on NEW airplanes still on the production line where everything is fit with jigs, NOW THAT IS VERY SERIOUS!!!
I was told that the company who performed the wing testing thought the wing had a critical design flaw that would lead to the wing box failing.
Whistleblower Sam Salehpour, a Boeing engineer, alleges that Boeing took shortcuts when manufacturing its 777 and 787 Dreamliner jets, and that the risks could become catastrophic as the airplanes age.
His formal complaint to the Federal Aviation Administration, filed in January and made public on Tuesday, is not specific to the newer 737 Max jet that has been grounded twice…
Salehpour on said his complaint raises “two quality issues that may dramatically reduce the life of the planes.”
“COULD”
“MAY”
Gee. Thanks for the hard data Sam.
Let’s destroy BOEING because of it.
How many have crashed?
My link refers to seven accidents. Then goes on to list dozens of incidents and problems.
Grounding, why?
Pratt & Whitney engines.
https://aviationweek.com/mro/aircraft-propulsion/pratt-whitney-powered-a320neo-groundings-jump-inspections-begin
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