(NewsInsights.org) – Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigators interviewed a Boeing whistleblower on Friday, April 5. The quality engineer claimed the company has repeatedly retaliated against him for raising concerns internally and to FAA officials about structural manufacturing connection issues in the 787 Dreamliner fuselages. He claimed shortcuts might eventually cause a catastrophic failure, where a fuselage could break up in flight because of material fatigue after thousands of flights.
Sam Salehpour spoke with the FAA about his allegations that the composite material fuselage parts that Boeing now receives from several different manufacturers no longer conform to the original fit and finish standards, causing misalignment and gaps where the fuselage pieces should bolt together.
The engineer said he “literally saw people jumping on the pieces” of the fuselage to force alignment so they could fasten them together. However, he argued that workers were actually deforming the fuselage pieces in the process, placing strains on the materials and design, which Boeing engineers had never accounted for.
Boeing spokesperson Paul Lewis conceded that Boeing had changed the manufacturing process for the 787 Dreamliner as Salehpour described but denied that the revisions had any “impact on durability or safe longevity of the airframe.” He stated that after conducting extensive testing, the company found Salehpour’s concerns didn’t constitute “an immediate safety of flight issue.”
Engineers designed the 787 Dreamliner as one of the first to use composite materials like carbon fiber and fiberglass for the fuselage instead of strictly using metal, as previous designs had done. The design choice reduced the plane’s weight and fuel consumption.
However, composite materials experience fatigue differently than metal components, according to safety consultant John Cox. He warned that, unlike metal components, composite components often don’t show visual signs of fatigue until they “just snap,” making testing a necessity.
Boeing has come under intense scrutiny after at least six recent instances of mechanical or quality failures since January.
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