Calhoun said Boeing took responsibility for the development of a key software system linked to the 2018 and 2019 fatal crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia which killed a combined 346 people.
“I am here to answer the questions. I am here in the spirit of transparency and I am here to take responsibility,” Calhoun told reporters earlier as he walked into the hearing room.
US Senator Richard Blumenthal, who chairs the subcommittee, told the hearing there is overwhelming evidence that the US Justice Department should pursue prosecution against Boeing.
Prosecutors found in May that Boeing had failed to “design, implement, and enforce a compliance and ethics programme” as part of complying with a deferred prosecution agreement following the fatal crashes. Prosecutors have until July 7 to inform a federal judge in Texas of their plans.
Boeing told the US Justice Department it did not violate the agreement.
“This is a culture that continues to prioritise profits, push limits, and disregard its workers,” Blumenthal said of Boeing.
Blumenthal said a new whistle-blower has come forward after a hearing with a previous whistle-blower in April. Blumenthal said on Tuesday that Sam Mohawk, a current Boeing quality assurance investigator at its 737 factory in Renton, Washington, recently told the panel he had witnessed systemic disregard for documentation and accountability of nonconforming parts.
In a report released by the committee ahead of the hearing, Mohawk said his work handling nonconforming parts became significantly more “complex and demanding” following the resumption of Max production in 2020 following two fatal crashes involving the model.
He alleged that the number of nonconformance reports soared by 300 per cent compared with before the grounding and that the 737 programme lost parts that were intentionally hidden from the Federal Aviation Administration during one inspection. The report said Mohawk filed a related claim in June with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
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Boeing Max plane grounded globally after mid-air blowout leaving hole the size of a door
Boeing Max plane grounded globally after mid-air blowout leaving hole the size of a door
Boeing said in a statement that the planemaker is reviewing the claims it heard about on Monday. “We continuously encourage employees to report all concerns as our priority is to ensure the safety of our airplanes and the flying public,” it said.
Boeing also said it has increased the size of its quality team and “increased the number of inspections per airplane significantly since 2019”.
Since the January 5 mid-air blowout of a door plug on a 737 Max 9 aircraft, scrutiny of the planemaker by regulators and airlines has intensified.
The National Transportation Safety Board said four key bolts were missing from the Alaska Airlines plane. The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into the incident.
Last week, Michael Whitaker, head of the FAA, said the agency had been “too hands off” in its oversight of Boeing before the January 5 accident. Another senator has also launched a probe into Boeing.
On May 30, Boeing delivered a quality improvement plan to the FAA after Whitaker gave the company 90 days to develop a comprehensive effort to address “systemic quality-control issues”. He has barred the company from expanding production of the Max.
Last week, Boeing told the US Justice Department it did not violate a deferred prosecution agreement after two fatal crashes of 737 Max planes, a source familiar with the matter said. The DPA had shielded the company from a criminal charge arising from crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people.