US planemaker Boeing's safety culture is under public scrutiny as two separate Senate hearings pore over a whistleblower's claims of poor assembly processes and shortcomings, reports Bloomberg.
Besides the whistleblower - a Boeing engineer who worked on the 787 programme for several years - senators plan to call on safety experts including from NASA and academia to address gaps in the company's safety record.
But Boeing officials won't be present at either session, with leaders such as CEO Dave Calhoun expected to face lawmakers at a later date.
The overlapping sessions underscore the intense glare on the US planemaker as it faces a crisis of confidence following an unnerving close call involving its 737 Max earlier this year.
The Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations will hear from a Boeing quality engineer, who alerted US regulators to alleged manufacturing changes by the company that he says could weaken the structure of the 787 Dreamliner aircraft over time.
Whistleblower Sam Salehpour will be joined by others to discuss what the panel has called a 'broken safety culture' at Boeing during the hearing, led by Senator Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut Democrat who chairs the session.
Javier de Luis, an aerospace engineer and lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, plans to tell that committee that the planemaker's pace and commitment to change falls short of what's needed after two 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019 killed 346 people, including his sister.
US investigators have said the plane involved in the accident was apparently missing four key bolts meant to hold the piece in place, an oversight that occurred on Boeing's final assembly line.
SeaNews Turkey
Besides the whistleblower - a Boeing engineer who worked on the 787 programme for several years - senators plan to call on safety experts including from NASA and academia to address gaps in the company's safety record.
But Boeing officials won't be present at either session, with leaders such as CEO Dave Calhoun expected to face lawmakers at a later date.
The overlapping sessions underscore the intense glare on the US planemaker as it faces a crisis of confidence following an unnerving close call involving its 737 Max earlier this year.
The Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations will hear from a Boeing quality engineer, who alerted US regulators to alleged manufacturing changes by the company that he says could weaken the structure of the 787 Dreamliner aircraft over time.
Whistleblower Sam Salehpour will be joined by others to discuss what the panel has called a 'broken safety culture' at Boeing during the hearing, led by Senator Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut Democrat who chairs the session.
Javier de Luis, an aerospace engineer and lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, plans to tell that committee that the planemaker's pace and commitment to change falls short of what's needed after two 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019 killed 346 people, including his sister.
US investigators have said the plane involved in the accident was apparently missing four key bolts meant to hold the piece in place, an oversight that occurred on Boeing's final assembly line.
SeaNews Turkey