Boeing used to be the gold standard in aviation as it made some of the best airplanes over decades. The aviation giant may not enjoy the same degree of synonymity any more, especially after string of crashes and issues with its 737 series. Now a former senior official of the company itself has told media that he would ‘absolutely not’ travel on planes in Boeing 737 Max series because of safety concerns.
“I would absolutely not fly a Max airplane,” said Ed Pierson, a former senior manager on the 737 program.
“I’ve worked in the factory where they were built, and I saw the pressure employees were under to rush the planes out the door. I tried to get them to shut down before the first crash,” he added. He was quoted by the LA Times.
Boeing has been in the crosshairs of aviation watchdogs across the world including in the US. A recent issue with a Boeing plane run by Alaska Airlines brought the focus right back. US regulator opened an inquiry into Boeing with focus on its quality control practices.
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Pierson, who left Boeing in 2018,now works as an executive director at Foundation for Aviation Safety. He expressed displeasure at the way in which regulators allowed Max 9 planes to return to service last week.
“If you had a new car that had a part fall off of it and you had to pull over to the side of the road, and then you went to the shop, and the mechanic said, ‘Hey, I’m finding some other things wrong with it, but here you go, ready to go get out on the road,’ you would probably have some questions about [whether] anything else [has] been missed. So that’s a concern that we’ve had.” he told ABC7 San Francisco
What happened during Alaska Airlines incident?
On January 5, a door plug of the fuselage of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 fell off shortly after it took off from international airport in Portland, USA. This caused panel of the plane’s body to fall off while it was still thousands of feet above the ground. Depressurisation of the cabin soon followed and objects began being sucked out of the plane through the gaping hole.
Fortunately, the pilots were able to control the aircraft and make an emergency landing in Oregon, Portland. There were no casualties or major injuries among the travellers and the crew.
(With inputs from agencies)
