An engineer at Boeing said Wednesday that the aircraft company, in rushing to produce as many planes as possible, is taking manufacturing shortcuts that could lead to jetliners breaking apart.
"They are putting out defective airplanes," the engineer, Sam Salehpour, told members of a Senate subcommittee.
Salehpour was testifying about Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, hundreds of which are in use by airlines, mostly on international routes. He spoke while another Senate committee held a separate hearing on the safety culture at Boeing.
The company has been under multiple investigations and in crisis mode since a door-plug panel blew off a 737 Max jetliner during an Alaska Airlines flight in January.
Salehpour alleged workers at a Boeing factory used excessive force to jam together sections of fuselage on the Dreamliner. The extra force could compromise the carbon-composite material used for the plane's frame, he said.
The engineer said he studied Boeing's own data and concluded "that the company is taking manufacturing shortcuts on the 787 program that could significantly reduce the airplane's safety and the life cycle."
Salehpour said when he raised concern about the matter, his boss asked whether he was "in or out" -- part of the team, or not. "'Are you going to just shut up?' ... that's how i interpreted it," he said.
The hearing of the investigations subcommittee marked the first time Salehpour has described his concern about the 787 and another plane, the Boeing 777, in public. Senators said they were shocked and appalled by his comments. Democrats and Republicans alike expressed their dismay with the iconic American aircraft manufacturer.
The company says claims about the Dreamliner's structural integrity are false. Two Boeing engineering executives said this week that in both design testing and inspections of planes -- some of them 12 years old -- there were no findings of fatigue or cracking in the composite panels. They suggested that the material, formed from carbon fibers and resin, is nearly impervious to fatigue that is a constant worry with conventional aluminum fuselages.
The Boeing officials also dismissed another of Salehpour's allegations: that he saw factory workers jumping on sections of fuselage on another one of Boeing's largest passenger planes, the 777, to make them align.
Separately on Wednesday, the Senate Commerce Committee heard testimony from members of an expert panel that found serious flaws in Boeing's safety culture.
One of the panel members, MIT aeronautics lecturer Javier de Luis, said employees hear Boeing leadership talk about safety, but workers feel pressure to push planes through the factory as fast as they can.
In talking to Boeing workers, de Luis said he heard "there was a very real fear of payback and retribution if you held your ground."
The dual hearings added to criticism that has been heaped on Boeing since the door plug blew off an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max as it flew over Oregon. Major safety failures have pushed Boeing into a crisis that has already resulted in a management shakeup, including the CEO's decision to step down at the end of this year.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said the public is looking to Washington to assure that boarding a plane is not getting more dangerous.
"Flying commercial remains the safest way to travel, but understandably, recent incidents have left the flying public worried. The perception is things are getting worse," he said.
The Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates airlines and aircraft manufacturers, was also heavily criticized during Wednesday's hearings.
The FAA was battered for the way it approved the 737 Max nearly a decade ago without fully understanding a key flight-control system. Two Max jets crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people. Critics continue to the agency is too cozy with Boeing.
"The FAA needs to be a regulator. They need to do their job. That's the missing piece right now," said Joe Jacobsen, a former Boeing and FAA engineer, told the investigations subcommittee.
The FAA is now under a new administrator, Mike Whitaker, who has taken a tougher approach to Boeing. He gave the company until May 28 to produce a detailed plan for how it will fix manufacturing problems and resolve safety concerns.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., left, talks with Dr. Tracy Dillinger, Manager for Safety Culture and Human Factors, National Aeronautics and Space Administration before the start of a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing to examine the FAA Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) Expert Panel Report on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
FILE - An airplane flies over a sign on Boeing's 737 delivery center, Oct. 19, 2015, at Boeing Field in Seattle. Boeing will be in the spotlight during back-to-back hearings Wednesday, April 17, 2024, as Congress examines allegations of major safety failures at the embattled aircraft manufacturer. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
From Left, Boeing Quality Engineer Sam Salehpour; Ed Pierson, Executive Director of The Foundation for Aviation Safety and a Former Boeing Engineer; Joe Jacobsen, Aerospace Engineer and Technical Advisor to the Foundation for Aviation Safety and a former FAA Engineer; and Shawn Pruchnicki, Ph.D, Professional Practice Assistant Professor for Integrated Systems Engineering at The Ohio State University are sworn in before they testify at a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs - Subcommittee on Investigations hearing to examine Boeing's broken safety culture on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
Boeing Quality Engineer Sam Salehpour wipes his eyes during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs - Subcommittee on Investigations hearing to examine Boeing's broken safety culture on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
Boeing Quality Engineer Sam Salehpour meets with Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., right, before the start of a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs - Subcommittee on Investigations hearing to examine Boeing's broken safety culture on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
FILE - Boeing employees walk the new Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner down towards the delivery ramp area at the company's facility after conducting its first test flight at Charleston International Airport, March 31, 2017, in North Charleston, S.C. Boeing will be in the spotlight during back-to-back hearings Wednesday, April 17, 2024, as Congress examines allegations of major safety failures at the embattled aircraft manufacturer. (AP Photo/Mic Smith, File)
Chris Moore, center, holds a photo of his daughter Danielle Moore, who died in the March 2019 crash of Ethiopian Airlines flight 302, during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs - Subcommittee on Investigations hearing to examine Boeing's broken safety culture on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
Daryl Guberman interrupts a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs - Subcommittee on Investigations hearing to examine Boeing's broken safety culture to announce he has information about Boeing to share with the committee on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
Shawn Pruchnicki, Ph.D, a Professional Practice Assistant Professor for Integrated Systems Engineering at The Ohio State University testifies during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs - Subcommittee on Investigations hearing to examine Boeing's broken safety culture on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)