Air India Plane Crash: 'This Is Hell'— Boeing Whistleblower Sam Salehpour's 787 Safety Claims Resurface
One of the whistleblowers Sam Salehpour's 'This is hell' video on Boeing 787's safety claims testament to US Congress on April 17, 2024 has resurfaced on social media.
US aircraft maker Boeing is back in news with the tragic Air India plane crash that involved the company's 'Safest' Aircraft—Boeing 787 Dreamliner. This incident has brought to light the issue of multiple whistleblowers raising serious safety concerns about Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, that triggered investigations by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) into the aircraft’s production and assembly processes, back in the fore front.
One of the whistleblowers Sam Salehpour's video on Boeing 787's safety claims testament to US Congress on April 17, 2024 has resurfaced on social media. Salehpour's allegations — ranging from improper manufacturing practices to claims of retaliation against employees — have intensified scrutiny of Boeing’s safety culture and operational oversight.
"While working on the 787 in late 2020, I observed that Boeing had begun taking shortcuts with respect to fit-up force (FUF) and one up assembly (OUA) to reduce bottlenecks in production and speed up production and delivery of 787s. Boeing adopted these shortcuts in its production processes based on faulty engineering and faulty evaluation of available data, which has allowed potentially defective parts and defective installations in 787 fleets," he said.
"Boeing’s engineering specification requires that gaps exceeding .005 inches be shimmed with 10 pounds per linear foot of FUF, the minimum force required to hold two parts together while measuring the gap opening between them for shimming purposes, per linear foot," he added.
"Industry engineering standards require Boeing to shim these gaps using minimal force to avoid causing deformities, but contrary to these requirements, Boeing has increased the FUF used in the shimming process to approximately 165 times the recommended level of force," he further said.
Before Sam Salehpour, another former quality control engineer John Barnett had previously flagged similar issues. Barnett alleged that under production pressure, workers were installing substandard parts on the assembly line and that he had identified defects in the aircraft’s oxygen systems — raising the possibility that up to one in four emergency breathing masks might fail in flight. Following his death in 2024, Barnett’s family has filed a lawsuit, citing depression, and anxiety they claim were linked to Boeing’s conduct.
US aircraft maker Boeing on Thursday said the company is in contact with Air India after one of the airline's Boeing 787-8 planes on way to Gatwick (London) crashed immediately after taking off from Ahmedabad airport.
In its official statement Boeing said that, "We are in contact with Air India regarding flight 171 and stand ready to support them (Air India)."
The Air India plane carrying 242 passengers and crew crashed in a crowded residential area minutes after taking off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
The pilot of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner issued a 'Mayday' distress call, denoting a full emergency, soon after takeoff, the Air Traffic Control at Ahmedabad said.
