Senate hearing grills Boeing’s CEO amid safety investigations
Blumenthal addressed the relatives of the passengers who died in two crashes as they sat in the room.
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A Senate committee led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal grilled Boeing's CEO on the company's failures to repair its "broken safety" culture.
Blumenthal addressed the relatives of the passengers who died in two crashes as they sat in the room.
“I wanted to begin by introducing you because the issues before us today have real human consequences. Life and death results. Not just abstract numbers and hypotheticals, but abstract issues. They are a matter of life and death for people who travel by air or work for Boeing,” said Blumenthal.
He also recognized the family of John Barnett, the Boeing whistleblower who committed suicide.
Boeing has been under scrutiny, including from the FAA, due to several safety issues.
"This is not an industry where it is ok to cut corners, to reduce inspections, to take shortcuts, and rely on broken parts that happen to be sitting around,” Blumenthal said. “This is not an industry where it is ok to rush planes out the door because you need to meet a quarterly sales quota. I feel you know all of what I am saying, but it is not enough to say it. Boeing has to do it."
The Department of Justice has an open criminal investigation on the January Alaska Airlines incident, where a Boeing plane had a door blow out mid-flight.
