‘Think twice’: Wild claims against company

The families of victims killed in two fatal plane crashes yelled at the company’s CEO as he copped a massive grilling during a hearing.

Boeing whistleblowers continue to speak out against the US company’s poor work culture and serious production issues as more concerning claims come to light.

It prompted the US government to conduct a senate inquiry where, last Tuesday, Boeing’s outgoing CEO Dave Calhoun copped a massive grilling about the company’s culture, safety and manufacturing issues.

“We’ve had multiple whistleblowers come before this committee and allege that Boeing is cutting every possible corner on quality and safety, not just in the past, but now,” senator Josh Hawley lashed.

He continued that there’s no focus on safety, and Mr Calhoun is allegedly trying to “squeeze every piece of profit you can out of this company”, referencing his “handsome” salary of $US33 million ($A49 million) a year.

Mr Calhoun responded that he “doesn’t recognise” any of the Boeing that senator Hawley had described.

“Senator I stand by what I said and I want to ensure the great employees in your state that is not the way we operate,” he said, referring to allegations employees are not listened to, retaliated against and threatened.

Boeing’s outgoing boss Dave Calhoun was grilled during a US senate inquiry last Tuesday. Picture: Samuel Corum / AFP

Mr Calhoun, who became CEO in 2020 and plans to leave later this year, was asked why he hasn’t immediately resigned.

“Senator I am sticking this through. I am proud of having taken the job. I am proud of our safety record and I am very proud of our Boeing people.”

“You’re proud of the safety record?” Senator Hawley fired back. “Wow, wow, there’s some news for you. Well, behind you the folks are showing pictures of the people who are victims of your safety record.”

Boeing’s safety crisis was sparked when an Alaska Airlines jet had a mid-air blowout of a panel on one of its planes in January due to a manufacturing issue.

It was allegedly missing bolts that should have been installed by Boeing employees when it rolled off of the aircraft manufacturer’s assembly line.

Senator Josh Hawley lashed at the CEO over the company’s poor work culture and serious production issues. Picture: 60 Minutes

Meanwhile, families of the victims who died in two deadly crashes – Lion Air 610 in 2018 and Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 – were at the hearing where some reportedly shouted at Mr Calhoun throughout the inquiry.

Among those at the hearing was Michael Stumo who told Channel 9’s 60 Minutes on Sunday, that despite several apologies from Boeing, he will never forgive the company.

His daughter Samya was 24 years old when she became a victim of Boeing’s fatal engineering flaws, when the two brand new 7373 Max aircraft death-dived, killing all 346 passengers on board.

“They’re murderers,” he told reporter Adam Hegarty when asked if Boeing killed his daughter.

“She was beautiful, charismatic, lit up a room, she just had it all.”

Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 on a Boeing 737-9 MAX where a door fell off mid flight. Picture: NTSB / AFP

Michael Stumo, who appeared in 60 Minutes, lost his daughter in the deadly Lion Air crash in 2018 after fatal engineering flaws. Picture: 60 Minutes

Samya was on the doomed Lion Air flight carrying 189 passengers. It was later revealed the aircraft had a technical issue in the days leading up to the crash.

Meanwhile, a preliminary report found that the Ethiopian Airlines flight had a malfunctioning sensor that sent faulty data to the Boeing 737 MAX 8’s anti-stall system.

Samya was just 24 years old. Picture: 60 Minutes

It then triggered a chain of events that ended in a crash so violent it reduced the plane to shards and pieces.

Today, families of the victims are fighting to hold Boeing to account.

“We’ve become a force among the aviation lobby and the aviation policy sphere in the US,” Mr Stumo told 60 Minutes.

“You protect your kids, and anyone who threatens or harms them, you go at them.”

Lion Air investigators examine part of the landing gear of the ill-fated Lion Air flight JT 610 at the port in northern Jakarta. All 189 passengers died. Picture: Azwar Ipank / AFP

Members of the search team lift part of the landing gear of the ill-fated Lion Air flight JT 610 during search operations at sea off the coast from Karawang on November 5, 2018.

Roy Irvin, a retired quality inspector on the 787 Dreamliner program, told 60 Minutes that passengers should “think twice” before boarding a Boeing aircraft, especially after the door-blow out mishap on the Alaska Airlines flight.

“The door blowout I could really relate to, with simply not installing a safety device, or missing a bolt or not even documenting the removal is something that we would see on a daily basis as investigators, when I was there,” he claimed.

Roy Irvin, a retired quality inspector on the 787 Dreamliner program, said some of the worst things he would find were poorly installed hydraulic fittings and bolts not tightened all the way down. Picture: 60 Minutes

Another whistleblower, Santiago Paredes, also exposed the alleged unsafe practices of the company. He was a former quality inspector for Boeing’s main supplier, Spirit AeroSystems. Picture: 60 Minutes

His job was to inspect planes at the end of the Boeing production line, telling the program the worst his team found was not properly installed hydraulic fittings for the hydraulic system, loose hardware on gear rotary actuator for the flap system and bolts not tightened all the way down.

He claimed the mistakes were as a result of Boeing not wanting to wait on quality.

“They were in a hurry all the time to get the airplane moving … from one position to the next,” Mr Irvin said.

Debris lays piled up during the recovery efforts at the crash site of Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302 on March 11, 2019 in Bishoftu, Ethiopia. Flight 302 was just six minutes into its flight to Nairobi, Kenya when it crashed, killing all 157 passengers and crew on board on March 10. Picture: Jemal Countess/Getty Images

He is one of many whistleblowers exposing the alleged unsafe practices at the company, including Santiago Paredes.

He was a former quality inspector for Boeing’s main supplier, Spirit AeroSystems and was responsible for inspecting the fuselages before they were delivered to Boeing.

He told 60 Minutes he would find problems every day.

Pilots of the Ethiopian Airlines flight encountered problems with their new Boeing jetliner from nearly the moment they roared down the runway and took off. Picture: Jemal Countess/Getty Images

Distraught relatives react as they arrive at the crash site of the Ethiopian Airlines operated Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, at Hama Quntushele village in Oromia region, on March 14, 2019. Picture: Tony Karumba / AFP

“On the sections that I inspected, I was finding anywhere from 100 to 200 defects,” Mr Paredes said.

“Anything you can think of when it comes to sheet metal, any kind of defect, you would probably find at the end of the line, every day.”

He claimed he was ordered to fudge the numbers or be punished.

Clariss Moore of Toronto, Canada, holds a photograph of her daughter Danielle Moore and stands with other family members of those killed in the Ethiopian Airlines flight and Lion Air Flight at the senate inquiry on June 18. Picture: Andrew Harnik / Getty Images

She became emotional while screaming at Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun as he departed the hearing on Boeing's broken safety culture. Picture: Samuel Corum / AFP

“When I was finding 100 defects it was affecting how their budget was being spent. So they wanted me to just say it was one defect.

“I stood up and said, ‘No’. It was unethical what they were asking me.”

He claimed if he didn’t comply, he would be fired.

The families held up photos of their loved ones killed in both fatal crashes.

According to 60 Minutes, Mr Calhoun admits some managers did retaliate against workers who spoke up – but he’s adamant that behaviour will now change.

“Our culture is far from perfect, but we are taking action and we are making progress. We understand the gravity, and we’re committed to moving forward with transparency and accountability,” Mr Calhoun told the senate during his inquiry last Tuesday.

The US Justice Department is considering criminally prosecuting Boeing. It claims the plane maker breached a deferred prosecution agreement it struck to escape charges over the deadly crashes.

60 Minutes reported that three years ago, it paid a $2.5 billion fine and promised to clean up its safety procedures. But the Alaska Airlines incident earlier this year, just days before the deal expired, meant Boeing was back in trouble.

As part of the commitment to change, Mr Calhoun, who has been the Boeing boss for four years, will step down at the end of the year.