'AirGuide' reports: By Brian Davidson| January 11th, 2024
Boeing 737 Max Supplier, Spirit AeroSystems, Ignored Warnings Leading to Safety Concerns and Legal Woes
Workers at a key Boeing supplier raised alarms about defects in aircraft components, but their concerns were reportedly overlooked, leading to a series of safety issues and a federal lawsuit. Just weeks prior to an alarming incident where a door plug blew out of an Alaska Airlines flight, workers at Spirit AeroSystems, the part’s manufacturer, had warned of safety risks.
Documents filed in federal court allege that former employees at Spirit AeroSystems, which manufactured the faulty door plug, had repeatedly alerted company officials about safety issues and were instructed to falsify records. These warnings came less than a month before over 150 Boeing aircraft were grounded due to a catastrophic failure.
The lawsuit accuses Spirit of systematic quality-control problems, under-reporting defects, and retaliating against whistleblowers. This situation underscores broader concerns about outsourced aerospace manufacturing and the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) regulatory effectiveness.
After any major catastrophe, it usually turns out that enginners, or regular staff, had warned of the problem. Think about the Challenger disaster in the USA (1986) and the King's Cross fire in the UK (1987) as but two examples.