Kolkata: In a shocking tragedy on June 12, an Air India flight operating from Ahmedabad to London crashed shortly after taking off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. The aircraft was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner had 230 passengers and 12 crew members, totaling 242 people on board.
This accident of an Boeing aircraft takes back to the warnings of Sam Salehpour, a whistleblower who reportedly accused the aircraft manufacturer of faulty systems. Salehpour, a Boeing engineer then, alleged that the company took shortcuts when manufacturing its 777 and 787 Dreamliner jets, and that the risks could become catastrophic as the airplanes age. The New York Times was first to report the whistleblower complaint, and it was later picked up by other international outlets like CNN and BBC.
How did the Sam Salehpour and Boeing saga unfold?
Sam Salehpour first formally raised the complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration. He filed the complaint in January 2024 and it became public knowledge a few days later. Notably, the Federal Aviation Administration had grounded 737 Max jet twice before, but Salehpour’s complaint opened a can of worms.
While Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner planes reportedly has 50-year lifespans, Salehpour alleged that the crews who assemble the plane failed to properly fill tiny gaps when joining separately manufactured parts of the fuselage. It allegedly resulted in more wear on the plane, shortening its lifespan and risking “catastrophic” failure.
While speaking with reporters, Salehpour 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.”
The FAA, while probing the veracity of the accusation, interviewed Salehpour. At that time, Boeing refuted the accusation saying, “We are fully confident in the safety and durability of the 777 family. These claims are inaccurate.” The company disputed Salehpour’s concerns about the 787 and stated, “These claims about the structural integrity of the 787 are inaccurate and do not represent the comprehensive work Boeing has done to ensure the quality and long-term safety of the aircraft.”
Sam Salehpour was allegedly threatened for his accusation
A BBC report states that Salehpour, who worked at Boeing for 17 years, raised his concerns about alleged manufacturing shortcuts repeatedly over three years starting in 2020, but he was told “to shut up”. He said, “I was ignored, I was told not to create delays. This is not a safety culture, where you get threatened (for) bringing issues.” Salehpour was not only ignored, but in his own words, “I received physical threats. My boss said, ‘I would have killed someone who said what you said in the meeting.” He was later transferred to a different department.
