Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun apologizes to families of crash victims as he is torched by Congress and reveals why the door blew off the Alaska Airlines flight
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun apologized to the families of the accident victims during a Senate hearing on Tuesday, before lawmakers took the executive to task for his role in the airline’s turbulent decline.
“I’m deeply sorry … my entire team at Boeing, everyone from around the world, past and present,” Calhoun told the audience in the packed Senate chamber.
Spectators held up portraits of victims who had died on Boeing planes, and there were too many faces to count.
Boeing has made headlines in recent years for broken landing gear, doors popping off in flight and multiple sudden system failures that led to catastrophic crashes in Indonesia in 2018 and Ethiopia in 2019, resulting in dozens of deaths.
The company’s repeated failure to fix its plentiful problems has led to skepticism on Capitol Hill and lawmakers fired Calhoun for his role in the airline’s demise Tuesday.
With protesters in the audience, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun takes a seat to testify before the Senate Investigations Subcommittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs to tell lawmakers about problems at the aircraft manufacturer since a panel blew out of a Boeing 737 Max during an Alaskan flight Airlines in January. Some protesters were relatives of those killed in Boeing crashes
“It’s a moment of reckoning for Boeing,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., the subcommittee’s chairman, told the Boeing CEO, warning him that he has a dozen whistleblowers ready to spill dirt on the U.S. aircraft giant.
On Monday, the subcommittee released a report containing explosive allegations from Sam Mohawk, a Boeing quality assurance inspector, who said the company had installed defective parts on planes and that he was later told by his managers to hide the evidence from government regulators.
Mohawk’s allegations are just the latest in a flurry of whistleblower complaints against Boeing this year.
But the whistleblower’s revelations appear to have been sidelined as lawmakers aimed their blows at Boeing’s CEO during the hearing.
‘Mr. Calhoun, let’s put it very bluntly: 346 people died as a result of a faulty control system, the MCAS system, that Boeing knew would at some point cause a crash,” Blumenthal said.
“I wouldn’t say the last part of that sentence,” Calhoun replied. “There was a judgment from ourselves, our design engineers and the certification process, that that could never happen, but it did.”
“Now you’re going to make me very angry,” Blumenthal responded, visibly upset by the CEO’s response.
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun looks at protesters and families of victims upon arrival
Many of those holding signs behind Calhoun had connections to those who died or were injured aboard Boeing planes
In January, an Alaska Airlines Boeing plane lost a door mid-flight. Several passengers on board that flight have sued Boeing and the airline
A defective door plug in the Boeing 737 Max 9 is said to have caused the crash
Family members of Ethiopia’s Boeing 737 MAX8 crash victims hold photos during a press conference on Capitol Hill on Tuesday
“Boeing was accused of defrauding the United States of America and the prosecution was deferred because Boeing paid a fine, but no one was held accountable,” Blumenthal said.
“Senator, it is wrong of me to re-examine an investigation that was thorough, thorough, thorough,” Calhoun responded.
Shouldn’t the people who still work at Boeing be held accountable, Blumenthal wondered.
“Senator Blumenthal, we are responsible,” Calhoun admitted after Blumenthal’s temper flared.
Later, Republican Josh Hawley, R-Mo., incredulously asked the CEO how much he gets paid to oversee such disasters at Boeing.
“What exactly are you getting paid for,” Hawley asked.
“I get paid to run the Boeing company,” Calhoun shot back.
Hawley then asked whether Calhoun’s responsibilities and salary of nearly $33 million dollars per year are based on transparency and safety.
“You are under investigation for falsifying 787 inspection records, Boeing is under criminal investigation for the Alaska Airlines flight, and you have been investigated by DOJ for criminal conspiracy to defraud the FAA,” Hawley said. “This is all under your term of office.”
“Doesn’t seem very transparent to me,” the Republican told Calhoun.
A sign with photos of those killed on Ethiopian Flight 302 is held aloft as Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun testifies before the Senate
Boeing has been the subject of multiple investigations by federal authorities in recent years regarding the safety and quality of its aircraft
The door blew out while the plane was flying at 16.00 feet, forcing a quick response by the pilots to land the plane to protect the passengers
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun testified that despite the high-profile safety incidents, he is proud of the company’s safety record
Boeing and Alaska Airlines are facing separate criminal investigations after a door blew off a plane in January. Both have denied wrongdoing.
“I’m proud to have taken the job,” Calhoun told Hawley. “I’m proud of our safety record.”
“Behind you are showing the people who are victims of your safety record,” the Missouri Republican said.
“I think we can see them all and I think the American public, if they’re afraid to get on their plane, they understand your safety record.”
“And I think it’s a travesty that you still have your job,” the Republican concluded.
During the hearing, Calhoun reiterated the steps the company has taken in recent months in response to the Alaska Airlines flight in January.
The incident prompted a frantic all-hands-on-deck meeting with C-suite executives in the days after the door came loose mid-flight.
In addition, Boeing paid $61 million to Alaska Airlines in March to compensate them for the disaster.
“We took immediate action at our facilities and in our supply chain to ensure that the specific circumstances that led to this accident would not recur,” the CEO testified.
Boeing has said it has reworked employee incentives, replaced senior staff at its commercial aircraft unit and is looking for new suppliers to address some of its problems.
Still, lawmakers didn’t seem to believe the CEO’s answers.
“Rather than asking what is causing Boeing’s safety culture to erode, you and your colleagues in the C-suite have deflected blame, looked the other way and instead served your shareholders,” Blumenthal said.
“Boeing needs to stop thinking about the next round of revenue and start thinking about the next generation.”