'Pattern Of Issues At Boeing': Whistleblower To NDTV After Air India Crash

Ed Pierson - the ex-high-level Boeing manager-turned-whistleblower, who testified before the United States Congress in 2019 that he had flagged safety concerns with the 737 Max variant - spoke to NDTV about "a bothersome patterns of issues" not being addressed as promptly as they should.

Mr Pierson, who is an aviation safety advocate with the Foundation of Aviation Safety, said, "I can tell you our foundation has been monitoring them closely... not just the 787s but other planes... and we've seen a bothersome pattern of issues we don't believe are being addressed in a timely manner."

This follows scrutiny over the horrific crash of Air India's AI-171, a London-bound flight that seemed to lose power and slam into a residential area in Gujarat's Ahmedabad 36 seconds after take-off.

Flight AI-171 was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. It was the first crash involving a 787 since 2009, but it has turned the spotlight back on long-standing concerns about Dreamliner manufacturing standards and on John Barnett, a whistleblower who died under mysterious circumstances last year.

"Until we get the processing of the data recorder (i.e., the black box, which has been recovered and the contents of which are being analysed), we are not going to have the information we need to make a definitive conclusion (on what happened to AI-171). There is a lot of information we don't know," he said when asked if there is any suggestion, at this time, of an issue with the plane itself.

He also pointed to media reports quoting the one passenger who survived.

"The thing that really jumped out was the report of a passenger who said they had flown a couple hours before the crash. He said none of the systems were working... referring to the air-conditioning and other systems. (But) there are backups, so those systems should always be working. So that's a little bit of a concern. Not saying anything definitively... but it is something that should be investigated."

On Salehpour's Boeing Testimony

Now, the crash also brings the focus back on Sam Salehpour, another Boeing whistleblower who accused the company of putting profit over safety, and retaliating against his publicly raising red flags.

"That's right... during testimony (to the US Congress in April last year) Mr Salehpour, who is the engineer with Boeing who reported problems, i.e., structural issues, and he provided pretty startling information about employees forcing parts to fit together (by jumping on them, according to some whistleblowers) when you aren't supposed to force them together..."

The 787 variant. Photo: Boeing

"... and he expressed concern and apparently did everything he could, from inside the company, to raise these concerns and wasn't getting an adequate response," Mr Pierson told NDTV.

"So he felt it was necessary to become a whistleblower."

READ | Year Before Ahmedabad Crash, Whistleblower's 787 Dreamliner Flaw Claim

In April last year Mr Salehpour, who spent nearly two decades at Boeing, told US lawmakers he had been "put through hell" for raising concerns about the manufacturing processes.

READ | What Whistleblower John Barnett Revealed About Boeing Before He Died

Among specifics flagged by Mr Salehpour were structural problems in the Dreamliner's fuselage; he claimed small gaps and improper assembly could cause possible structural failure.

Boeing's Firm Response

Boeing had strongly disputed the whistleblowers' claims, including those by Mr Salehpour, and said the Dreamliner had been put through 150,000 safety tests and audits, and the airframes were fine. It also denied retaliating against the whistleblowers after many, including Sam Salehpour, alleged retribution.

READ | Boeing Rebuts Whistleblower's "Breaks At Some Time" 787 Claim

The Federal Aviation Administration, the United States' top aviation authority, had then launched an investigation based on Mr Salehpour's claims. And the FAA had cleared in-operation 787s.

FAA Says No Safety Issue

On Wednesday, hours after the Air India plane crash, American officials continued to state there was no immediate safety data that required halting of Boeing 787 flights in the US.

READ | US Aviation Body Says New Problem In Undelivered 787 Dreamliners

Asked if the concerns flagged by Mr Salehpour could have been present in other 787s, i.e., those not operating in the United States, Mr Pierson told NDTV "it is possible..."

"The problems he identified.. apparently the planes were being bult like that for a long time."

On 737 Max Whistleblowing

On his own whistleblowing - regarding the 737 Max planes - Mr Pierson said there were multiple indicators of "chaotic and dangerous manufacturing" at facilties producing that variant..

A grounded Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 at Los Angeles International Airport (File).

"We were rushing to build planes... employees were under pressure to do overtime... there were parts issues, aircraft systems issues, functional system testing and electrical system testing, in particular..."

The AI-171 plane crash is being investigated by Indian authorities; flight AI-171's black box has been recovered and the voice and systems data it contains is being analysed.

The government has also set up a high-level committee to inquire into the accident and suggest guidelines to reinforce the safety of planes and passengers.

Information available at this time only shows the plane lost thrust seconds after take-off.

The Air India plane fell on a students' hostel near Ahmedabad airport.

The pilots sent a distress radio message to Ahmedabad Air Traffic Control between 1.39 and 1.40 am, the government has said, but did not then respond to the ATC hailing the doomed plane.

READ | "Last Message Was 'Mayday'": Aviation Ministry On Ahmedabad Air Crash

All but one of the 242 people on board were killed; the lone survivor was a British-Indian man sitting in seat 11A, and at least 31 deaths have been confirmed on the ground, taking the total dead to 274.

With input from agencies

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