(SHEFFIELD, MASS.—) Tireless advocate for aircraft safety and congressional candidate, Nadia Milleron, issues the following statement in regard to today’s Senate subcommittee hearing with the testimony of Boeing whistleblower Sam Salehpour:
“The hearing today revealed that Boeing has been lying to the public and we must double our efforts to hold them accountable. Contrary to their repeated claims, Boeing did possess records regarding the faulty construction of the Alaska air plane which suffered from a blowout in January. Those records have been submitted to the FBI. The Department of Justice needs to eliminate the deferred prosecution agreement that continues to protect Boeing executives from any criminal charges – which is one of the only ways to truly hold the company accountable.
On April 24th, there is a meeting that will include families of crash victims and representatives of the Department of Justice. During that meeting, the families will show that Boeing has continued to operate within a toxic culture that puts human lives at risk. They have not rehabilitated in any way. As an accused criminal, they are behaving about as badly as they could after killing 346 people. Boeing executives certainly should not be rewarded financially for continuing to produce unsafe airplanes. They have created a culture that prioritizes profits over safety, while punishing people like the whistleblower, Mr. Salehpour, who courageously told the world about the unsafe manufacturing of Boeing planes that remain in service today.”
Milleron has proven her tenacity and legislative ability through her advocacy for the bi-partisan Aircraft Certification, Safety, and Accountability Act, which was passed unanimously by Congress in 2020. She also spearheaded the 2023 overthrow of a terrible Illinois state law that allowed corporations to avoid punishment for knowingly killing people. Her tireless work came following the shocking death of her daughter, Samya, who was aboard a Boeing 737 MAX that crashed in 2019. At the time, Boeing was headquartered in Illinois, and this law finally brought a new level of accountability to the corporation for its tragic recklessness with people’s lives.