Name: Whistleblower claims Boeing Dreamliner could break apart midair
Uploaded: 2024-02-11T03:15:07.000Z
Duration: 2 min 29 s
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This morning, growing turbulence for one of the world's largest airplane manufacturers Boeing, as the federal government has launched a new investigation into the company amid allegations about one of Boeing's airplanes.

The FAA tells NBC News it's investigating new whistleblower claims made by a Boeing quality engineer about the 787 Dreamliner.

The latest claims first reported by the New York Times come after a series of dangerous mishaps involving other Boeing planes in recent months.

The whistleblower Sam Salehpour says sections of the Dreamliner's fuselage are put together improperly and that after thousands of flights, it could break apart midair.

In a letter to the FAA, his attorney writes, "It is likely to cause premature fatigue and failure over time in two major airplane joints."

He is alleging that Boeing knowingly took a series of manufacturing shortcuts in the construction of the 787.

Boeing says it is fully confident in the plane which has undergone intense stress testing, adding "These claims about the structural integrity of the 787 are inaccurate and do not represent the comprehensive work Boeing has done to ensure the quality and long-term safety of the aircraft."

This latest whistleblower worked at a Boeing plant in South Carolina, the same plant that employed another whistleblower John Barnet who was found dead last month with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The new Dreamliner allegations come as the company faces intense scrutiny after that midair blowout on a Boeing Max 9 Alaska air flight earlier this year.

And two fatal Max air crashes overseas in 2018 and 2019.

Boeing is putting profits and production speed ahead of quality and safety.

Now, Boeing has made a number of leadership changes after those previous issues news and now says that this latest whistleblower did not have access to all of the testing data.

The company further goes on to say that it spent years going over every aspect of the plane to make sure that it's safe, Craig.

Blayne Alexander in Atlanta. Blayne, thank you.