Boeing CEO to Face Senate Grilling Addressing Safety Concerns

Departing Boeing CEO David Calhoun will testify before a Senate subcommittee Tuesday and answer questions about the embattled company’s jetliners.

His appearance comes amid the single biggest safety crisis for Boeing since the crashes of two of its Max 8 jets in 2018 and 2019.

AP reports the company’s latest plan to fix its manufacturing problems will be addressed, and relatives of people who died in two crashes of Boeing 737 Max jetliners plan to be in the room  on Capitol Hill.

The hearing will mark the first appearance before Congress by Calhoun — or any other high-ranking Boeing official — since a panel blew out of a 737 Max during an Alaska Airlines flight in January.

No one was seriously injured in the incident, but it raised fresh concerns about the company’s best-selling commercial aircraft, as Breitbart News reported.

Other incidents with the company’s products have since emerged and sparked public queries.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are conducting separate investigations.

“From the beginning, we took responsibility and cooperated transparently with the NTSB and the FAA,” Calhoun said in remarks prepared for the hearing. He defended the company’s safety culture.

“Our culture is far from perfect, but we are taking action and making progress,” Calhoun said in the prepared remarks. “We are taking comprehensive action today to strengthen safety and quality.”

The Justice Department determined last month that Boeing violated a 2021 settlement that shielded the company from prosecution for fraud for allegedly misleading regulators who approved the troubled  737 Max.

A top department official said Boeing failed to make changes to detect and prevent future violations of anti-fraud laws, AP reports.

Prosecutors have until July 7 to decide what to do next.

Calhoun announced in late March that he would retire at the end of the year, as Breitbart News reported.

He took on the chief executive role in early 2020 after the previous boss, Dennis Muilenburg, was ousted following two fatal Boeing 737 Max 8 crashes which claimed the lives of 346 passengers and crew.

The head of the company’s commercial-airplanes unit resigned the day of Calhoun’s announcement.

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