Boeing 737 skids off Senegal runway as another whistleblower steps forward
From a frantic evacuation after an aircraft skid off the runway during takeoff in Senegal to a front tire bursting upon touchdown in Turkey with nearly 200 people safely evacuated without injury, two separate incidents within hours of each other on Thursday involving Boeing 730 Sevens have left passengers shaken. Officials in Senegal commend the pilot’s handling of the situation. They say 10 of the nearly 79 people on board were hurt. Four of them with serious injuries. An investigation is underway into the cause of the incident, which temporarily shut down the airport. It’s the third incident involving a Boeing plane to make headlines this week. At a time when the company is facing intense scrutiny, this is a recipe for disaster, really. Now a whistleblower from Spirit Aero Systems, a key Boeing supplier, has come forward with alarming allegations. The former quality manager claims there was a culture of negligence where defects in Boeing 737 fuselages were allegedly overlooked. Compromising safety standards and risking passenger lives if quality matter, I would still be a Spirit. In February of 2022, Santiago Paredes says he was asked to speed up inspections by being less specific about where he was finding issues, saying he emailed managers to state it was unethical and put him in a very uncomfortable situation. He eventually resigned. He takes a toll on you, and I was tired of fighting. The Air Force veteran who worked 12 years at Spirit was known as Employee One in a lawsuit filed by Spirit shareholders in December for widespread quality failures. For many years, they knew they were getting defective fuselages. Boeing said it’s taken significant action to improve the quality of Spirit Aero systems. Fuselages and maintains the 737 is a safe airplane. As for Thursday’s incidents in Turkey and Senegal, Boeing said the planes were delivered 16 and 30 years ago, respectively, referring further comment to the airlines. Neetu Karja, Global News Vancouver.