Passenger jets flown by some of the world's biggest airlines may be unsafe, according to two former Boeing employees.
The whistleblowers allege that Boeing sacrificed safety and manufacturing quality to speed production lines. The two ex-employees' disturbing and separate allegations are expected to be heard in a US District Court in Seattle.
A former flight-control rigger, Timothy Kerr, says he saw workers misinstalling cables, overtightening bolts and drilling wrong-sized holes on the Boeing assembly lines of the late eighties and early nineties.
A former production line inspector, George D Wynalda Jnr, says that low standards continued as late as 1996. The two have identified a number of aircraft, including some operated by big airlines.
Boeing supervisors, the two allege, anxious to keep aircraft rolling off the production lines, overlooked manufacturing faults and ignored defects when they were brought to their attention. According to lawsuits filed by the two men, Boeing workers were "intimidated and harassed" so that the production process was not delayed.
The allegations have been made under the False Claims Act, an American law designed to encourage whistleblowers where companies have taken advantage of the government. The lawsuits are seeking more than $10bn (about R60 billion) in damages from Boeing.
British Airways runs 218 Boeing passenger jets - some 62 per cent of its 352-strong fleet. According to the whistleblowers, dozens of passenger jets used today by major airlines were involved.
Also identified were military jets including Airborne Warning and Control System (Awacs) aircraft made for the Navy and Air Force, and two of the President's Air Force One aircraft.
The two men claim it was Boeing's policy to give aircraft mechanics stamps to approve inspections on their own projects, eliminating formally trained inspectors from the approval process.
They also say they witnessed Boeing officials "falsely certify that parts and/or assembly met specifications ... without even conducting an inspection, defective and substandard parts which are in airplanes flying today."
Boeing has robustly denied the claims as absolutely false. The Seattle-based manufacturer maintains that all the aircraft in question were ultimately approved under the tough inspection regime imposed by federal authorities.
The two lawsuits were originally filed independently in 1996. As the False Claims Act is designed to prevent fraud against the government, the men's lawsuits are centred on claims that military aircraft were not properly built. Under the False Claims Act, the US government can intervene at any time to defend its interests, giving whistleblowers a portion of any judgment or settlement.
Three months ago, US District Court Judge Barbara Rothstein dismissed Boeing's bid to strike out Kerr's legal claim. Boeing is still attempting to dismiss Wynalda's suit. Jim Hailey, the Seattle lawyer who represents Kerr and Wynalda: "Obviously if these allegations are true and can be proved in a trial it will be a very serious matter. I think that both sides recognise that. That's why Boeing are making such efforts to stop these cases going ahead."
An assembly line worker at Boeing Renton, near Seattle, in the 1970s, Kerr served as a mechanic and flight-control rigger in the nearby Everett factory from 1986 until he resigned in 1993. He claims co-workers had been "threatening with great bodily harm" for attempting to correct defects.
Independent investigations into Kerr's claims have met with mixed results. Safety records of 47 of the Boeing 767 aircraft identified by Kerr were examined. None had been involved in a crash, but some had experienced problems - such as emergency landings because of mechanical difficulties. It is not known whether these difficulties related to those contained in the allegations.
Wynalda, a Boeing employee for 18 years at the Auburn plant, also near Seattle, claims he was fired four years ago in retaliation for reporting alleged violations to federal inspectors. Wynalda says that Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspectors have upheld some of his complaints in the past and that several other US agencies including the FBI have reviewed or are looking into his claims.
Wynalda has letters and inspection tags, which he says support his claims, and both have lists of other workers who they say will back their accusations.
In the past, Boeing has admitted to some problems similar to those in the new allegations. In 1993, for example, the FAA said Boeing had improperly installed engine struts on more than 700 jet liners for more than 18 years, forcing the company to recheck bolts that had been overtightened. Neither whistleblower claims that similar practices continue today.
Boeing last week chose not to comment directly on the new claims. Last year Ron Woodard, Boeing president at the time, said: "It is 100 per cent certain that we would not, nor would the FAA, ever allow an airplane that is anything but absolutely safe to leave our factory." - The Independent, London