It seems that every week, Boeing (BA) sinks deeper into controversy as it undergoes multiple investigations from the U.S. government on its safety and quality control practices following a series of startling incidents involving its planes, which multiple airlines use.
This week, a current Boeing employee has just made an unsettling accusation. New Boeing whistleblower Sam Mohawk, a Boeing Quality Assurance investigator, claims that Boeing was “losing hundreds of non-conforming parts” at Boeing’s facility in Renton, Wash., where the 737 Max jet is manufactured, according to a recent complaint filed with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Related: Another Boeing whistleblower dies after raising safety concerns
He claimed in the complaint that he feared that the faulty parts were being installed on the 737s, and that it could lead to a “catastrophic event.”
Boeing’s 737 Max jet production was put under a microscope earlier this year after an Alaska Airlines flight, which was a Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft, was forced to make an emergency landing after a door plug blew off of the aircraft mid-flight.
Mohawk also alleges that in June 2023, shortly after Boeing was notified by the Federal Aviation Administration that its Renton plant would be inspected, 80% of the 60 nonconforming parts that the facility had at the time were hidden from FAA inspectors, and some of those parts ended up being “lost completely.”
Aaron Schwartz/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Mohawk also claims that the facility had an “overwhelming number of nonconforming parts” which led to his superiors instructing him and other workers to “eliminate” the records that revealed that a part was nonconforming.
The accusations come at a time when Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun will testify June 18 at a U.S. Senate hearing titled “Boeing’s Broken Safety Culture.” He is expected to apologize for the company’s poor performance and address claims made by whistleblowers that the company retaliated against them for bringing up concerns about safety and quality control practices.
“Much has been said about Boeing’s culture. We’ve heard those concerns loud and clear,” he told CNN in a statement on June 17. “Our culture is far from perfect, but we are taking action and making progress. We understand the gravity, and we are committed to moving forward.”
Related: Boeing supplier fights to conceal docs amid second whistleblower death
Boeing accused of retaliating against employees
Allegations of Boeing threatening its employees who highlight safety issues has garnered an increasing amount of attention over the past few months. The company was recently accused by Boeing whistleblower Sam Salehpour during a Senate hearing on April 17 that he has received “physical threats” after raising concerns internally over the company allegedly “taking manufacturing shortcuts” during its production of several airplanes.
More Boeing:
- Another Boeing whistleblower dies after raising safety concerns
- Boeing whistleblower says he received ‘physical threats’ over safety concerns
- Boeing accused of hiding information of retaliation against workers
Also, two former Boeing whistleblowers mysteriously lost their lives shortly after flagging issues that allegedly plagued the company’s production practices. In March, Boeing whistleblower John Barnett was found dead in a vehicle from a "self inflicted gunshot wound” one day after he testified in a deposition detailing the safety issues he witnessed at the company’s production plant.
In May, Boeing whistleblower Joshua Dean died due to a serious bacterial infection. Dean was part of a class-action lawsuit that accused Spirit AeroSystems (SPR) , which is Boeing’s supplier, of concealing “widespread quality failures” in its aircraft production from its shareholders. He also filed complaints to the U.S. Department of Labor and the FAA regarding Spirit’s controversial workplace culture and production issues.
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