Boeing CEO to testify before senate, face new whistleblower claims

livemint.com:

Boeing Chief Executive David Calhoun faces a congressional grilling Tuesday that will include surprise allegations from another whistleblower over quality issues. Calhoun will appear before a Senate subcommittee that is probing problems at Boeing, from glitches in its production process in the wake of a Jan. 5 blowout to claims of retaliation against employees who raise red flags.

“Our culture is far from perfect, but we are taking action and making progress," Calhoun is expected to say, according to his prepared remarks. The CEO said in March that he would step down by year’s end. Late Monday, the subcommittee released a staff memo that includes, among other information, allegations from a quality assurance inspector in Boeing’s 737 factory in Renton, Wash.

The employee, Sam Mohawk, says the company mishandled faulty airplane parts and that some of those bad parts were later installed in airplanes. Mohawk says he was told by his supervisors to conceal evidence of the mishandled parts from federal regulators. Boeing didn’t have an immediate comment on the new whistleblower allegations.

A Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said the agency investigates all reports and would do so with the latest allegations. He said the agency has seen an increase in Boeing employees reporting safety concerns since the Jan. 5 accident.

Mohawk’s legal team also represented John Barnett, a former Boeing quality manager who raised concerns and died in March. A police investigation concluded that Barnett died by suicide. He worked at Boeing’s 787 factory in South Carolina.