Whistleblower Alleges Boeing Won't Acknowledge Safety Issues 3 Years After MAX Crashes

A U.S. Senate report released on Sunday features allegations against Boeing by a named whistleblower over its unwillingness to admit to safety oversights.

The whistleblower, Dr. Martin Bickeboeller, is a high-ranking engineer at Boeing. In the report, Bickeboeller alleges that over three years after two MAX model 737 planes crashed, the company still will not admit to lapses in compliance with federal safety standards, according to The Seattle Times.

Bickeboeller reached out to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) with his complaints in October. He alleged that Boeing's unwillingness to admit mistakes has resulted in "a dangerous culture not conducive to the proper safety of aerospace products."

Bickeboeller alleged that the way Boeing oversees manufacturing at its various suppliers is still inadequate in the years since the MAX crafts were first grounded. He has reportedly flagged this issue to the company multiple times, as well as in a previous complaint submitted to the FAA.

Jessica Kowal, a spokesperson for Boeing, told The Seattle Times that the company took the issues raised by Bickeboeller into consideration but ultimately disagreed with his assessments. She also added that Boeing takes such matters flagged by employees "very seriously."

"We have received the committee's report and have begun to review it. Safety and quality are Boeing's highest priorities, and Boeing teammates are encouraged to speak up whenever they have safety or quality concerns," a Boeing spokesperson told Newsweek. "There are multiple channels available to report any such concerns, including confidentially or anonymously, and employees are protected against any form of retaliation.

"Many of the issues covered by the report have been previously publicized, and Boeing has worked to address them with oversight by our regulator. Boeing has made significant changes to improve its safety culture, including the creation of a new organization dedicated to product and services safety across the Boeing enterprise and the implementation of a safety management system, and Congress has made numerous changes to aviation oversight in the Aircraft Certification, Safety, Accountability Act. We remain focused on those improvements, and we will review the report's findings and recommendations as we continue that process."

The Boeing 737 MAX planes were grounded from March 2019 to December 2020 after they were involved in two fatal crashes that killed a total of 346 passengers. First, Lion Air Flight 610 crashed in October 2018, followed by Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in March 2019.

A total of 387 planes were grounded as a result of these fatal crashes. Flights resumed with MAX crafts in the U.S. in December 2020, and the model was recertified in Canada and Europe the following month.

Alongside Bickeboeller, the Senate's report also cited interviews with another engineer and a production manager from Boeing, three FAA safety engineers and an engineer at General Electric. Ultimately, the report concluded that the FAA is not doing a sufficient job overseeing Boeing.

"FAA's oversight of the certification process has eroded," the report states, noting that the agency has begun ceding oversight authority to other entities, including Boeing itself.

It also calls for the FAA to "address undue pressure" put on its oversight office for Boeing, which was found to be "chronically understaffed" with a noted shortage of safety engineers.

"FAA's certification process suffers from undue pressure on line engineers and production staff," the report added.

Updated, 7:45 p.m., 12/14/2021: Added response from Boeing.