She too had raised concerns about the use of scrap parts and the safety of the aircraft.
She said she had been sacked after refusing to sign off on aircraft that she believed could be unsafe. Boeing said she had been dismissed for "poor performance". In 2021, an independent audit commissioned by the FAA found that the company had "failed to adequately oversee its suppliers to ensure they complied with Boeing's quality assurance system".
Boeing said it had "improved processes and oversight mechanisms" as a result of the audit findings.
But in 2022, another former quality manager at the South Carolina plant, Ed Pierson, told the US Congress that he too had grave concerns about the 787 production process. He said he had warned senior managers that the factory was "plagued with debris left behind in planes" and that he had "never seen such potentially catastrophic debris" in 30 years in the industry.
Boeing said it had "thoroughly reviewed Mr Pierson's allegations" and found "no basis for them". It said it had "multiple levels of independent oversight and quality controls in place throughout the production process".
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The Air India tragedy, which resulted in the deaths of at least 270 people, involved one of Boeing’s most innovative and popular planes. Up until now, it had been regarded as one of the safest planes in the world.
The cause of the crash, which occurred just 30 seconds after take-off, is still unknown. Investigators have recovered flight recorder data and are currently working to determine the cause. However, the incident has brought attention to the aircraft involved: the 787 Dreamliner, the first in a new generation of fuel-efficient planes.
Prior to the accident, the 787 had been in operation for over 14 years without any major incidents or fatalities. According to Boeing, it had carried over a billion passengers during that time. Currently, there are over 1,100 787s in service worldwide.
However, the aircraft has also faced a series of quality control issues.
Whistleblowers who worked on the aircraft have raised concerns about production standards. Some have alleged that potentially dangerous planes were allowed into service, but Boeing has consistently denied these allegations.
On a cold December morning in 2009, a brand-new 787 took off from Paine Field airport near Seattle to the cheers of a crowd. This flight marked the end of years of development and billions of dollars worth of investment.
The 787 was conceptualized in the early 2000s, when rising oil prices were a major concern for airlines. Boeing set out to build a long-haul plane that would be highly efficient and set new standards in fuel economy.
Aviation historian Shea Oakley explains, “In the late 1990s, Boeing was working on a design called the Sonic Cruiser. It was initially meant to be a high-speed plane that could carry up to 250 passengers at just under the speed of sound. But after 9/11, the airlines told Boeing they needed the most fuel-efficient long-range jetliner ever produced.”
Boeing scrapped its initial concept and began work on what became the 787. This decision also helped create a new business model for airlines. Instead of relying on giant planes to transport large numbers of passengers between major airports, they could now use smaller, more efficient planes to fly direct routes between smaller cities that were previously not viable.
At the same time, Boeing’s main competitor Airbus was taking a different approach by developing the A380 superjumbo, a massive plane designed for busy routes between the world’s biggest airports. However, in hindsight, Boeing’s decision was proven to be more successful. The A380 went out of production in 2021 after only 251 were built.
Aviation analyst Richard Aboulafia explains, “Airbus thought the future was giant hubs where people would always want to change planes in major airports. Boeing said ‘no, people want to fly point to point.’ And Boeing was proven to be right.”
The 787 was a revolutionary aircraft. It was the first commercial plane to be primarily built with composite materials, such as carbon fiber, in order to reduce weight. It also had advanced aerodynamics to decrease drag and used highly efficient modern engines from General Electric and Rolls Royce. It also replaced many mechanical and pneumatic systems with lighter electrical ones.
Boeing claimed that these features made the 787 20% more efficient than its predecessor, the 767. It was also significantly quieter, with a smaller noise footprint on the ground.
However, shortly after the aircraft entered service, there were major issues. In 2013, lithium-ion batteries caught fire on a 787 at Boston’s Logan International Airport. A week later, another 787 had to make an emergency landing due to overheating batteries. As a result, the 787 was grounded worldwide for several months until Boeing found a solution.
Since then, the aircraft has had smoother operations, but production has been plagued with problems. Analysts believe this may be due, in part, to Boeing’s decision to establish a new assembly line for the 787 in North Charleston, South Carolina, over 2,000 miles away from its Seattle headquarters.
Boeing made this decision to take advantage of the region’s low union membership rates and generous state support. However, this move resulted in significant development issues, as well as notable production problems.
In 2019, Boeing discovered the first of many manufacturing defects that affected how different parts of the aircraft fit together. As more issues were uncovered, deliveries were disrupted, and production was halted multiple times.
However, the most damaging allegations about the 787 program came from current and former Boeing employees. One of the most prominent whistleblowers was John Barnett, a former quality control manager at the 787 factory in South Carolina. He claimed that pressure to produce planes quickly compromised safety standards.
In 2019, he told the BBC that workers at the plant were not following proper procedures for tracking components, which could allow defective parts to be used. He also alleged that workers were using substandard parts from scrap bins to avoid delays on the production line.
He also claimed that defective fixings were used to secure aircraft decks, which resulted in sharp metal shards accumulating beneath the deck near critical wiring. The US regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration, partially upheld his claims after an investigation, finding that at least 53 non-conforming parts had gone missing in the factory.
Boeing’s board concluded that this did not pose a safety issue, but the fixings were redesigned. The company later stated that it had resolved the FAA’s findings regarding part traceability and implemented corrective actions.
However, Barnett remained concerned that aircraft already in service could have hidden defects that could result in a major accident. He told the BBC in 2019, “I believe it’s just a matter of time before something big happens with a 787. I pray that I am wrong.”
In early 2024, Barnett died by suicide while giving evidence in a whistleblower lawsuit against Boeing. He alleged that the company had retaliated against him for his claims, but Boeing denied this.
Many of his allegations were similar to those made by another former quality manager at the plant, Cynthia Kitchens. She also raised concerns about the use of scrap parts and the safety of the aircraft. She claimed that she was fired for refusing to sign off on planes that she believed could be unsafe. Boeing stated that she was dismissed for poor performance.
In 2021, an independent audit commissioned by the FAA found that Boeing had not adequately overseen its suppliers to ensure compliance with quality assurance standards. Boeing stated that it had improved processes and oversight mechanisms in response to the audit findings.
In 2022, another former quality manager at the South Carolina plant, Ed Pierson, testified before the US Congress, expressing serious concerns about the 787 production process. He stated that he had warned senior managers about debris left behind in planes and believed that he had never seen such potentially catastrophic debris in his 30 years in the industry.
Boeing stated that it had thoroughly reviewed Pierson’s allegations and found no basis for them. The company also stated that it had multiple levels of independent oversight and quality controls in place throughout the production process.