--- title: "New Boeing Whistleblower Says 787 Fuselages Are Improperly Fastened Together, Could Break Apart" description: "A new Boeing whistleblower just dropped, and the claims this one is making about its safety issues are quite the doozy." date: "2024-04-10" modified: "2024-04-10" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/boeing-whistleblower-787" categories: - "Boeing" - "Future Society" - "Space" tags: - "boeing" - "boeing 787" - "the digest" - "whistleblower" --- # New Boeing Whistleblower Says 787 Fuselages Are Improperly Fastened Together, Could Break Apart ![A new Boeing whistleblower just dropped, and the claims this one is making about its safety issues are quite the doozy.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Ring the Alarm A new Boeing whistleblower just dropped, and their new claims are expanding scrutiny to a different line of the company's jets. In [interviews with the *New York Times*]() and documents sent to the Federal Aviation Administration, an engineer named Sam Salehpour says that the construction of the company's 787 Dreamliner fuselages are neither built nor fastened together correctly — leaving them open to potentially break apart after too many flights. Salehpour, who's worked for Boeing for over a decade, said the issue is related to the company cutting corners by using manufacturers for different parts of the planes, which when fastened together on the assembly line don't line up properly. According to the whistleblower, the problem gets worse as the planes age and experience wear and tear. The information — which the FAA admits it has received, but didn't comment on when contacted by the *NYT* because it has an investigation is underway — comes in the aftermath of that consequential Alaska Airlines flight in January, when a part of the fuselage from a Boeing 737 Max jet [blew off]() and [landed in someone's yard](). That incident spurred public interest, skepticism, and even fear about Boeing's jets. And in its wake, there's been a [slew of reporting]() surrounding [manufacturing]() and [functioning issues]() with its planes, many of which are [falling apart]() as they age — which, incidentally, is salient to one of Salehpour's claims. ## Retaliatory Action It also comes after another company whistleblower, John Barnett, was [found dead]() outside his hotel in Charleston, South Carolina in the midst of his deposition about his ex-employer's safety issues. For the past 20 years, Boeing has built its Dreamliners in the same SC down where Barnett was pronounced dead of an [alleged suicide](). Similarly to Barnett, Salehpour said that when he raised issues about the issues he witnessed, he was [retaliated against]() by his superiors. "This is the culture that Boeing has allowed to exist,” Debra Katz, the whistleblower's attorney, told the *NYT*. "This is a culture that prioritizes production of planes and pushes them off the line even when there are serious concerns about the structural integrity of those planes and their production process." Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat and chairman of the Senate's Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee investigational subcommittee, is planning to bring Salehpour before the chamber on April 17. He echoed the attorney's rhetoric in an interview with the *NYT,* and said it it's important for the public to hear what the whistleblower has to say in his own words. "Repeated, shocking allegations about Boeing’s manufacturing failings point to an appalling absence of safety culture and practices," Blumenthal said, "where profit is prioritized over everything else." In statements to the *NYT*, Boeing expressed confidence in its manufacturing process and denied there were safety issues — but given that there are now [multiple investigations]() into the company, it's hard to take its word at face value. **More on Boeing:** [*United Begging Pilots to Take Unpaid Time Off Amid Boeing Disaster*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()