Boeing whistleblower: Staff 'jumped like Tarzan' on jet parts to fit them

• There were two competing hearings held in Congress on Wednesday to discuss safety issues on Boeing planes
• Sam Salehpour, a Boeing engineer who filed a whistleblower complaint about the company's lack of safety protocols, told one committee that he was physically threatened by his bosses after coming forward with his concerns
• He also claimed that he saw workers jump on plane pieces, like "Tarzan", in order "to get them to align"
• Ed Pierson, the director of the Foundation for Aviation Safety, accused Boeing of engaging in a "criminal cover-up"

• At the end of the hearing, Senator Richard Blumenthal said he is planning future hearings, and has asked the FAA and Boeing to speak
• So far, Boeing has made no official comment today - but in the past it has defended its safety protocols, and called the claims made by Sam Salehpour "inacurrate"

One of the rather extraordinary claims made today by whistleblower Sam Salehpour, a quality engineer at Boeing, was that he said he saw workers jumping on plane pieces to force them into place.

Workers building the planes would struggle to bridge the joints in the planes' mechanisms, he told the hearing, and would sometimes use blunt force.

"I literally saw people jumping on pieces of the airplane to get them to align," he said.

"I call it the Tarzan effect."

This is not the first time Salehpour has made this claim, and according to the Associated Press, Boeing officials have previously dismissed the allegation.

Boeing has said his claims are "inaccurate" and that it was confident its planes are safe.

"The issues raised have been subject to rigorous engineering examination under [Federal Aviation Administration] oversight," the company said last week.

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United Airlines has blamed Boeing for a $200m (£161m) hit to its earnings in the first three months of this year.

The carrier was forced to ground its Boeing 737 MAX 9 fleet for three weeks after a mid-air cabin blowout on an Alaska Airlines flight in January.

United said that pushed it to a pre-tax loss of $164m for the first quarter.

The airline said it "would have reported a quarterly profit" otherwise.

United has 79 Boeing 737 MAX 9s in its fleet, more than any of its rivals, and second only to Alaska Airlines.

United and Alaska were forced to cancel thousands of flights as inspections were carried out in January before the US aviation regulator cleared the planes to resume flying.

Earlier this month, Boeing paid $160m to Alaska to make up for losses the airline has suffered.

United told investors that its operations were also impacted by delays to deliveries of Boeing planes.

Despite the concerns outlined by the experts in today's hearings, the chances of being hurt on a commercial flight are low.

According to trade publication FlightGlobal, there were only six fatal commercial aviation accidents globally in 2023 - resulting in 115 deaths. Compare that to how many flights take off around the world - 36.8 million last year, according to Statista.

The National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates air accidents in the US, recorded 20 major accidents involving US commercial planes in 2022. That's down from 27 accidents recorded nationally in 2008.

Experts agree, and statistics show, that flying is much safer than driving.

Hence the adage that you're more likely to get hurt on your way to the airport than while aboard your flight.

This hearing stems from a dramatic mid-air blowout in January of a Boeing aircraft.

Regulators temporarily grounded nearly 200 Boeing 737 Max 9 jets after a door plug fell from an Alaska Air plane shortly after take-off.

The section that fell from the sky was a 27kg (60lb) part of the shell. The cabin abruptly depressurised, creating a rush of air that ripped off the flight crews headsets and sent phones and other items flying out of the plane.

That raised serious safety concerns at the aerospace firm, which you can read about here.

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Today we heard strong criticism aimed directly at Boeing - from a "criminal cover-up" to "physical threats".

Boeing, one of the world's two major producers of commercial planes, has said the claims made by Sam Salehpour were "inaccurate" and that it was confident its planes were safe.

"The issues raised have been subject to rigorous engineering examination under [Federal Aviation Administration] oversight," the company said last week.

Two days before the hearing in Washington DC, the aerospace firm hosted a few journalists at its 787 Dreamliner manufacturing complex in South Carolina, where they walked them through safety demonstrations.

There, Steve Chisholm, chief engineer for Boeing Mechanical and Structural Engineering, responded to the latest whistleblower allegations.

“We haven't identified any safety issues," the Seattle Times quoted him as saying.

“We have not seen anything in service related to [the gaps] that would indicate that there is an issue with the in-service fleet."

According to the Associated Press, Boeing officials have also previously dismissed Salehpour’s claim that he saw workers jump on 777 fuselage parts to make them align, which we heard Salehpour testify about earlier.

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• Two competing hearings were held in Congress on Wednesday to discuss the issue of safety issues on Boeing planes
• Sam Salehpour, a Boeing engineer who filed a whistleblower complaint about the company's lack of safety protocols, told one committee that he was violently threatened by his bosses after coming forward with his concerns
• He also claimed that he saw workers jump on plane pieces, like "Tarzan", in order "to get them to align"
• Ed Pierson, the director of the Foundation for Aviation Safety, accused Boeing of engaging in a "criminal cover-up"
• At the end of the hearing, Senator Richard Blumenthal said he is planning future hearings, and has asked the FAA and Boeing to speak
• During the hearing, US federal aviation regulators at the FAA issued a brief ground stop on all Alaska Airlines planes. The company said it was due to a systems upgrade glitch that was quickly repaired

Senator Blumenthal concluded the hearing just now, as lawmakers are being called to the Senate floor for an unrelated manner.

"I would like to continue this hearing," he says. "But Senator Johnson and I will be held accountable if we are not in our seats on the United States Senate before 1pm."

He thanks the whistleblowers for being here and sharing their insight.

"You've taken risks throughout your career, every one of you."

He adds that there is a need for accountability to provide "real consequences for intentional mistakes and wrongdoing".

He says he is hopeful the committee will be in touch with the Department of Justice on the matter.

Senator Josh Hawley, known as a congressional flamethrower, mentions outgoing Boeing boss Dave Calhoun. "I wonder how much he's getting paid," he says. "I bet it's a lot."

Indeed it is: $32.77m for 2023, up 45% from the prior year and 273 times the company's median pay, Boeing disclosed recently.

That included $1.4m in salary, the same as in 2022, and more than $30m in stock awards.

He could also receive a retirement package worth more than $44m when he steps down later this year.

Present during this hearing is Chris Moore, the father of Canadian citizen Danielle Moore. He is sitting next to her wife, Clariss.

Moore's daughter died in the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 crash in 2019. He holds up a photo of her as lawmakers grill the whistleblowers.

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During her round of questioning just now, Senator Maggie Hassan asks both Pierson, the former Boeing engineer, and Jacobsen, the former FAA engineer, how Congress can better empower and protect whistleblowers.

Pierson answers: "We really shouldn't have to rely on whistleblowers. With that said, [whistleblower] programs need to have much more oversight."

He adds that Boeing employees who submit a whistleblower report to the FAA often wait months for an investigation to be conduct, and oftentimes there is no follow-up.

Jacobsen says he hopes the culture is changed at the FAA "so they are back to doing their job as a regulator".

"If they just rubberstamp anything that manufacturers do, then they are not doing anything useful."

Witness Ed Pierson says the FAA "needs to get in the game" and more thoroughly inspect Boeing's safety protocols.

Senator Blumenthal replies that the committee has reached out to the FAA and wants them to send regulators to testify.

He notes that the FAA "have issued a scathing report, reporting the finding of an expert panel's review of Boeing's management practices".

He says the report identified "a lack of awareness of safety-related metrics at all levels of the organisation".

Blumenthal adds that he is "hopeful" that the FAA will be "co-operative and aggressive" in the committee's investigation.

More now from Sam Salehpour, the Boeing whistleblower, who has detailed what he describes as retaliation from Boeing management.

In one instance, he recalls receiving calls on his personal phone, including from his boss.

"For 40 minutes, he kind of berated me and chewed me out," Salehpour says.

He compared the actions to stalking someone.

"It really scares me, believe me. But I am at peace ... I feel like by coming forward, I will be saving a lot of lives. Whatever happens, happens."

A reminder that you can watch the hearing live by pressing the play button at the top of this page.

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The congressional committee summoned Boeing CEO David Calhoun earlier this month to testify about the firm’s jets.

Calhoun, who is leaving Boeing at the end of the year, will not be at today’s hearing.

In a statement to the BBC, the company said: “Boeing understands the important oversight responsibilities of the Subcommittee and we are cooperating with this inquiry.

“We have offered to provide documents, testimony, and technical briefings, and are in discussions with the Subcommittee regarding next steps.”

As Senator Ron Johnson starts his questioning, he reminds the hearing of the "800-pound gorilla in the room: the "tremendous pressure" from all corners to keep Boeing planes in the air.

The US company is one of the world's two major manufacturers of commercial airplanes and its safety problems this year mean many airlines are facing delayed deliveries of new aircraft. They are warning of reduced flights and potentially higher fares as a result.

Airbus is Boeing's main rival, but it has a backlog of thousands of orders, limiting its ability to take advantage of the chaos - and to what extent airlines reliant on Boeing have a viable alternative.

Earlier this year, air transport consultant John Strickland told the BBC it was possible we could look back on this year as an inflection point for the industry that allows new players to emerge from China and elsewhere.

"It could be a moment in time that changes the global landscape of the balance of manufacturing," he said.

But the shake-out will take decades.

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Salehpour, the Boeing engineer, says he believes that he was targeted by Boeing for reprisals after coming forward with his whistleblower complaint.

A brand new tyre on his car was punctured by a nail, he says.

He tells the committee that after bringing his car to a mechanic, he was told by the worker there that the nail "was not picked up through normal driving".

"The nail was inserted in there.

"I believe it happened at work. I have no proof of that."

Asked by Senator Blumenthal to describe the verbal threats he received at work, he says that after flagging safety issues: "Someone told me they would have killed someone like me if they [were to] say something like that".

Earlier he told the Senate committee: “My boss said I would have killed someone who said what you said in the meeting.”

“This is not safety culture, when you get threatened by bringing issues of safety concerns.”

Joe Jacobsen says that the attitude between Boeing and the FAA needs to change. He has previously worked for both.

Right now, he says the dynamic between the two is: "Boeing dictates to the FAA, tells the FAA what they will do, what they will accept."

He adds that the FAA needs to step up into its regulatory role.

"They need to do their job, and that is the missing piece right now."

Senator Richard Blumenthal then asks if the FAA has been "too captive to Boeing".

"They absolutely have been," Jacobsen responds.

Boeing, one of the world's two major producers of commercial planes, has said the claims made by Sam Salehpour were "inaccurate" and that it was confident its planes were safe.

"The issues raised have been subject to rigorous engineering examination under [Federal Aviation Administration] oversight," the company said last week.

Two days before the hearing in Washington DC, the aerospace firm hosted a few journalists at its 787 Dreamliner manufacturing complex in South Carolina, where they walked them through safety demonstrations.

There, Steve Chisholm, chief engineer for Boeing Mechanical and Structural Engineering, responded to the latest whistleblower allegations.

“We haven't identified any safety issues," the Seattle Times quoted him as saying.

“We have not seen anything in service related to [the gaps] that would indicate that there is an issue with the in-service fleet."

According to the Associated Press, Boeing officials have also previously dismissed Salehpour’s claim that he saw workers jump on 777 fuselage parts to make them align, which we just heard Salehpour testify about.