Cantwell to Boeing: Where are the Documents?

Hearing

Were you able to get from the company what specific procedures that they have for identifying, storing, protecting, retrieving, and retaining quality records? Were they forthcoming on that?

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Does the fact that Boeing has not produced these documents or that NTSB investigators have not been able to retrieve them indicate that they do not exist or ever existed?

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If you don't have that documentation, what does it say about the quality assurance program?

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So that's why I asked that first question about procedures for identifying, storing, and protecting. Everybody knows out at Boeing that the workers think that the plane will fly when the paperwork weighs more than the plane. That is their way of saying a lot of paperwork exists. People know that you don't move the line without paperwork. That's just part of the process. So, the question is, are you looking at those procedures, and you're saying they're not forthcoming, even on the procedures?

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Okay, and so is the FAA in there? [Are] aviation safety investigators helpful in this or not helpful?

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I'm saying do any of their aviation inspectors on site have data or information about what processes and procedures may have existed or didn't exist?

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Okay. And then back to this point, every shift is documented, you know the workers that were involved in this particular area, you can get their names, you can ask for interviews with those individuals. And you're saying that that hasn't happened?

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Well, it's beyond disappointing. We have an entire economy that depends on people getting this right. And I thought that the CEO said that they would cooperate to the fullest. So, it seems like this information is now stymieing your investigation, and it seems that it's knowable, and that you should at least be able to talk to the individuals there.

Do you have any concerns, there was a report about, there could be an additional, because there was a consent decree that was about to expire, that any kind of other investigation by Department of Justice would impact your investigation?

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Well, that is occurring now. And so, what do we need to do to make sure that people feel safe and secure? That's part of the expert report. It's part of why we passed ACSAA to make sure there was no retaliation. What else can we do? And we can't have a viewpoint that, I just had to keep the line moving. That's not the viewpoint we want. We want employees who are saying, I have a concern about this, to be listened to, and to be backed up by those FAA ASIs. That's what we want.

And so, in this case, we want to understand whether that kind of retaliation still exists, and what we can do to make sure that these people feel free to speak to you, and to others who are investigating.

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