
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.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Hans India
2 minutes ago
- Hans India
OpenAI CEO admits he is ‘scared' of using AI
New Delhi: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently admitted that is scared to use 'certain AI stuff' sometimes. Speaking at one of the episodes of Theo Von's podcast 'This Past Weekend', Altman said: 'I get scared sometimes to use certain AI stuff, because I don't know how much personal information I want to put in, because I don't know who's going to have it.' Sam Altman was responding to Von's question on the fast pace of AI development, 'Do you think there should be kind of like a slowing things down?' During the conversation, the OpenAI CEO compared the current competition among AI companies as an 'intense' race not only for commercial domination, but as tool that will echo for generations. He further stated that ChatGPT-maker OpenAI does not move quickly, someone else will, adding that fate of AI could slip out of hands of those most mindful about its social consequences. During the podcast, Altman acknowledged how uncertain the human future is. 'I think all of human history suggests we find a way to put ourselves at the centre of the story and feel really good about it … Even in a world where AI is doing all of this stuff that humans used to do, we are going to find a way in our own telling of the story to feel like the main characters,' he said. Sam Altman also addressed the fear of certain jobs becoming obsolete because of AI. 'How will people survive?' host Von asked. To this, Sam Altman replied: 'AI will create possibilities for individuals to pursue more creative, philosophical, or interpersonal goals.' He said that when everyone can get instant help and knowledge through AI, people can rethink what it means to contribute to society. However, he warned that the shift could be very difficult for those who lose their jobs in the short term.


Mint
32 minutes ago
- Mint
Elon Musk and Tesla's $30 trillion AI supersonic tsunami
Tesla shareholders are used to volatility. Shares dipped 8% on Thursday after Tesla reported second-quarter earnings. Shares bounced about 4% on Friday. Coming into the week of trading, Tesla stock was down 22% year to date and up about 44% over the past 12 months. Tesla CEO Elon Musk offered some pretty eye-popping aspirations for the company during remarks on Saturday. Musk made a virtual appearance at the Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley 2025 'Takeover" party in San Mateo, Calif. The group is, essentially, a fan club and community for Tesla and Musk enthusiasts. Its Takeover event draws attendees from all over the world, according to organizers. The headline from the event might just have been an admittedly aspirational comment about $30 trillion a year in humanoid robot revenue. Tesla is using its artificial intelligence and manufacturing capabilities to build its Optimus humanoid robots. Version three of 'Optimus is the right design to go to volume production," said Musk. Tesla plans to make a few hundred of those by the end of 2025. Originally, Tesla planned to have a few thousand, but the new design slowed things down a little. Tesla still plans to ramp production higher in 2026. Tesla is betting big on AI, using it for robots and to train its self-driving cars. Robots are 'probably the world's biggest product…There's a market for 20 billion robots," said Musk. 'Hypothetically, if Tesla was making one billion of these a year…maybe on the order of $30,000, I'm just guessing here, that's $30 trillion in revenue." It's an incredible prediction. 'Long way to go between here and making one billion robots a year," added Musk. There isn't a significant market for humanoid robots yet. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has said that robots can become the world's largest market. (Housing, consumer electronics, and cars are three of the largest today.) The world spends 'what $50 trillion on human labor a year now?" says Futurum chief market strategist Shay Boloor. Useful robots are 'pretty disruptive if you can conquer it." Musk, for his part, doesn't fear the labor disruption, believing it will end up creating an age of abundance with hard labor essentially eliminated. 'I've never seen any technology advance as fast as AI," said Musk, describing it as a supersonic tsunami. It's all pie in the sky for now, but quite a vision of the future. Investors should pay attention to events like the 'Takeover." It's almost like a Wall Street event for the EV maker. Tesla is more of a retail stock than the megacap companies. Smaller retail investors hold more than 40% of the shares available for trading, according to Bloomberg. The average for the rest of the Magnificent Seven is closer to 25%. Whether the interview will move Tesla's stock on Monday is anyone's guess. Shares dipped 8% on Thursday after Tesla reported second-quarter earnings on Wednesday evening. Shares bounced about 4% on Friday. Coming into the week of trading, Tesla stock was down 22% year to date and up about 44% over the past 12 months. Shares are trading for about 180 times estimated 2025 earnings. That's the second-highest PE ratio in the S&P 500, according to Bloomberg, trailing only Palantir Technologies. That valuation indicates that, to some extent, investors are as optimistic about the future. Write to Al Root at


Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Top stocks to buy: Stock recommendations for the week starting July 28, 2025
Top stocks to buy (AI image) Stock market recommendations: According to Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, the top stock picks for the week (starting July 28, 2025) are VA Tech WABAG, and HDFC Bank. Let's take a look: Stock Name CMP (Rs) Target (Rs) Upside (%) VA Tech WABAG 1621 1900 17% HDFC Bank 2005 2300 15% VA Tech WABAG VA Tech is a global leader in water treatment and a strong play on the long-term structural water treatment theme, with rising demand driven by pollution, scarcity, and regulatory needs. It ranks 3rd as a private water operator globally (up from 6th in 2019 and 10th in 2017). It operates an asset-light model and boasts 125+ Intellectual property rights, focusing on high-margin engineering & procurement and long-term O&M projects. Robust ₹137b order book (4.2x FY25 revenue) & ₹200b bid pipeline support 15–20% revenue CAGR visibility over FY25–28. Strategic initiatives like 'Wriddhi' bolster its growth and profitability outlook. Improving margins, strong FCF (~₹3.5b/year), net cash status, & rising RoCE/RoE make it a high-quality compounder. HDFC Bank HDFC Bank is well-positioned to deliver a strong earnings rebound, supported by improving loan growth across Commercial & Rural Banking (CRB), SME, and retail segments. With normalization of the CD ratio and a granular liability profile, the bank is poised to accelerate credit growth—guided to be in line with the system in FY26 and ahead in FY27. Robust asset quality (GNPA/NNPA at 1.4%/0.5% in 1QFY26) and provisioning buffers (INR366b) provide comfort, while margin recovery is expected as high-cost borrowings are replaced by deposits. We estimate HDFCB to deliver FY27E RoA/RoE of 1.9%/14.9%. Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays and public holidays . AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now