New Boeing Whistleblower Comes Forward Ahead Of CEO’s Testimony
A Boeing quality assurance inspector has come forward with serious new allegations against the airline giant shortly before its chief executive is scheduled to testify before the Senate.
Sam Mohawk has accused Boeing of systemically mishandling and losing hundreds of damaged or defective parts at its plant in Washington, likely leading to their improper and dangerous installation on 737 Max airplanes, according to a complaint filed with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Mohawk’s report was filed last week and publicly released Tuesday by the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, according to a statement from the subcommittee’s chairman, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). Mohawk shared his concerns with the subcommittee last month.
The subcommittee is scheduled to question Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun on Tuesday afternoon about the company’s safety practices.
In his OSHA report, Mohawk claims his supervisors instructed him to conceal evidence of wrongdoing from the Federal Aviation Administration at Boeing’s Renton plant. This allegedly included workers’ improper outdoor storage of airplane parts that were instructed to be largely hidden during an FAA visit in June 2023.
“Since then, those parts that were hidden from the FAA inspection have been moved back to the outside area or lost completely,” Mohawk’s report states.
Mohawk said he requested additional storage space and staffing to handle the parts but was told by his supervisors that the finance department denied the request.
According to Mohawk, when he spoke to management about his concerns and warned that the issue could lead to penalties with the FAA, he was given a written warning for “unacceptable/disruptive behavior or communication.” His behavior, he was told, was “causing people to be afraid and to feel threatened.”
“Mohawk only wants to build safe airplanes” and worries that the current plant practices could “lead to a catastrophic accident,” his OSHA report states.
Mohawk’s allegations, and the claims made by other whistleblowers, are evidence that Boeing is putting profits over safety, Blumenthal said.
“This is a culture that continues to prioritize profits, push limits, and disregard its workers. A culture where those who speak up are silenced and sidelined while blame is pushed down to the factory floor,” he said in a statement shared with HuffPost.
Mohawk’s OSHA report was shared with a memo to members of the subcommittee ahead of Calhoun’s testimony.
In addition to outlining Mohawk’s claims, the memo states that a second whistleblower who wishes to remain anonymous has also spoken with the subcommittee about Boeing’s alleged efforts “to eliminate quality inspections, instead relying on the workers building the planes to inspect their own work and their co-workers’ work.”
A Boeing spokesperson told HuffPost that the company is reviewing these allegations after receiving the subcommittee’s memo late Monday.
“We continuously encourage employees to report all concerns as our priority is to ensure the safety of our airplanes and the flying public,” the spokesperson said in an email.
