FAA opens new Boeing safety investigation into 'missed' 787 Dreamliner inspections amid claims employees falsified records

The FAA today announced a new safety investigation into beleaguered jet maker Boeing. 

The Wall Street Journal reports the target of the investigation is whether Boeing fulfilled safety inspection requirements on all of its troublesome 787 jets.

Regulators are saying that Boeing disclosed to them that their employees may have skipped some inspections on 787 Dreamliner planes. 

The FAA added that it was investigating 'whether Boeing completed the inspections and whether company employees may have falsified aircraft records.'

The Journal obtained internal communications sent by Boeing's 787 program chief, Scott Stock, on April 29. Stock said the company found no 'immediate safety of flight issue' for any of the Dreamliners currently in use. 

Dozens of grounded Boeing 737 MAX aircraft are seen parked in an aerial photo at Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington, U.S. July 1, 2019. Picture taken July 1, 2019

A doorplug blew out midair on an Alaska Airlines flight on January 5, 2024 in Portland, Oregon

There were no serious injuries from the terrifying air failure, but passenger's belongings including phones flew out of the aircraft

A Boeing 737 Max operated by United Airlines veered off the tarmac into the grass in March when exiting the runway at George Bush Airport in Houston 

Shocking footage showed the plane laying flat on its wings off the side off a runway, after suffering an apparent gear collapse 

Boeing whistleblower Sam Salehpour testified on Capitol Hill in April about the safety issues present in the company's planes, specifically the 787 models. 

The Alaska Airlines plane that had its door blow out mid-flight at 16,000 feet in January was a 737 Max 9, and that's reportedly when the FAA began probing Boeing and its construction processes.

Salehpour claimed prior to his testimony that he 'literally saw people jumping on the pieces of the airplane to get them to align.'

Boeing has categorically denied Salehpour's claims regarding people jumping on airplanes.

Steve Chisholm, Boeing's chief engineer, defended the planes in April, saying investigators have not found fatigue cracks on in-service 787 jets that have gone through heavy maintenance. 

Still, the 787 jet has a history of serious problems, even if Boeing is confident in their structural integrity at this current moment.

Pictured: Boeing engineer Sam Salehpour testifies before the US Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Investigations on April 17

Boeing halted deliveries of the 787 widebody jet for more than a year until August 2022 as the FAA investigated quality problems and manufacturing flaws.

In 2021, Boeing said the planes had shims that were not the proper size and some aircraft had areas that did not meet skin-flatness specifications. A shim is a thin piece of material used to fill tiny gaps in a manufactured product.

The 737 Max, a narrow-body jet, has also had its fair share of close calls in the air.

A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 was forced to make an emergency landing at Denver International Airport after part of the engine blew off in early April.

In March, an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 landed in Portland with its cargo door slightly open. Passengers' luggage and pets were down below but Boeing said no harm came to the animals.

Wreckage of the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737-MAX plane is seen on March 11, 2019. The plane crashed six minutes after takeoff, killing all 157 passengers on board

An Alaska Airlines flight in March arrived in Portland with the door to its cargo space where passengers' pets were inside left slightly ajar

Pets belonging to passengers were being held inside the cargo area however it is not believed any were injured as a result of the door 

Joshua Dean (pictured) died suddenly on April 30 aged 45 having raised the alarm about supposed defects in 737 Max jets

Boeing whistleblower John Barnett was found dead in his truck outside a South Carolina hotel days after testifying against his former employer

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun speaks briefly with reporters after a meeting in the office of Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., at the Capitol. Calhoun will step down at the end of the year from the top job at the planemaker

Also in March, a United 737 plane veered off the runway after landing in Houston. The 160 passengers and six crew were not injured.

The new investigation sent shares in the jet maker into a freefall on Monday. 

The company is already grappling with the second death of a whistleblower who raised the alarm about its safety practices. 

Joshua Dean was that second whistleblower, and he raised alarms about supposed defects in 737 Max jets. 

Dean's family said the 45-year-old died in the hospital after a sudden illness.

Former Boeing staffer John Barnett, 62, was the other Boeing whistleblower who died. He publicly discussed concerns he had about under-pressure workers deliberately fitting sub-standard parts to aircraft on the assembly line earlier this year. 

After alleging his bosses were spying on him, Barnett then committed suicide in early March.