On Wednesday, June 26th, a whistleblower accused the boeing 787 Dreamliner manufacturing process of being defective. The whistleblower and mechanic, Richard Cuevas, pointed out non-compliant manufacturing defects in the front pressure cabin wall of the 787 aircraft. Boeing has stated that it has previously investigated Cuevas's allegations and that these allegations do not pose a safety issue.
On June 27th, Cailianshe News (Editor Zhouziyi) reported that on Wednesday (June 26th), a whistleblower accused the unsafe manufacturing process of some parts of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, which could lead to catastrophic consequences.
Richard Cuevas, a mechanic for Strom, a contractor of Spirit AeroSystems, a major supplier to Boeing, claimed that he witnessed a hole being drilled in the 787 aircraft's forward pressure bulkhead at Boeing's factory in Wichita, Kansas in 2023 in a non-standard way. The bulkhead is one of the main components of the aircraft body, used to maintain cabin pressure and is essential for maintaining the integrity of the aircraft in flight.
According to the complaint filed by Cuevas' lawyer, he complained to Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems about 'non-compliant manufacturing and maintenance processes' he witnessed in October 2023, and was fired a few months later.
Boeing said it had previously investigated Cuevas' allegations, which did not constitute a safety issue.
"An employee of a subcontractor previously reported concerns to us, and we thoroughly investigated. We take any safety-related issue seriously. Subsequent engineering analysis determined that the employee's concerns did not constitute a safety hazard and were resolved," the company said in a statement.
Boeing also said it is reviewing the latest documents released by Cuevas' lawyer on Wednesday and will investigate any new allegations.
More whistleblowing letters.
Since a Boeing 737 Max aircraft took off in January and shortly afterwards a cabin door fell off, Boeing's plane safety problems have been more emphasized. The number of whistleblowers has also increased significantly.
So far, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has launched multiple investigations into Boeing. Recently, the Department of Justice said it may bring criminal charges against the company for ongoing quality and safety issues.
The FAA said in a statement that it "strongly encourages anyone with safety concerns to report them, and we thoroughly investigate every report." The agency said it has reviewed 126 Boeing whistleblower reports this year, compared with 11 last year.
Cuevas said the non-compliant holes he observed on the front pressure bulkhead of the aircraft could lead to "disasters" and could have an impact on the aircraft's power and air pressure, posing a serious safety risk to passengers on board.
Cuevas also said he saw these issues on three aircraft he was involved in designing, and believes they could affect at least 10 to 12 Boeing aircraft that are either in production or have been delivered.