Air India plane crash: Publish Boeing report immediately, says whistleblower's lawyer to US Federal Aviation Administration
LONDON: Attorneys for Boeing whistleblower Sam Salehpour have written to the Federal Aviation Administration urging it to immediately release its findings on structural defects alleged by Salehpour regarding Boeing's 787 aircraft in light of the Air India crash in Ahmedabad.
Boeing quality engineer Salehpour had, in early 2024 alleged serious quality issues with Boeing's 787 and 777 aeroplanes, which, he had claimed, may compromise the safety and lifespan of the aircraft.
The Air India aircraft that crashed soon after take-off in Ahmedabad on June 12 was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.
The letter from Salehpour's lawyers, Debra Katz and Lisa Banks, sent right after the news of the AI-171 crash broke, states that Salehpour had raised concerns about the "structural integrity of Boeing 787 and 777 aircraft and Boeing's manufacturing processes" as well as the "company's overall safety culture".
As a result of his whistleblowing, the Federal Aviation Administration opened an investigation into Boeing in March 2024.
In Dec 2024, the lead FAA investigator informed them the investigation was "complete" and had expressed "appreciation for Salehpour's identification of important safety issues". "He assured us the report would be issued imminently. We understood from his comments that many of Salehpour's concerns had been substantiated.
We awaited the release of the report and yet, nearly six months later, it has not seen the light of day," the letter states.
It points out that on Thursday, the world learned of "yet another tragic disaster involving the same 787 aircraft that Salehpour identified as flawed". "No one can truly understand the risks resulting from Boeing's manufacturing processes until FAA releases its investigative report. FAA must immediately publish the report without further delay," it concludes.
Salehpour, a veteran engineer at Boeing with more than four decades of experience, has testified before the US Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee regarding his allegations.
His claims are that he observed shortcuts employed 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.
When he reported these concerns internally, he alleges that he was threatened with termination and excluded from important meetings.
"FAA must assure public that Boeing 787 is safe," Banks told TOI. "While it may take months or years to determine the cause of the Air India crash, we know that there is an important report sitting on a desk at FAA about the 787 that needs to become public. We urge the FAA to release its findings."
Federal Aviation Administration did not respond to a request for comment.
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