Robert A. Clifford, founder and senior partner at Clifford Law Offices, will be speaking on Tuesday, August 24, 2021, at 4:30 p.m. CST on ABC News on the latest news to come out from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that a sizable number of Boeing engineers have told the federal government that they are unable to raise safety concerns at the giant company without fear of interference.
The FAA reported that it is going to investigate a study it conducted over a three-month period earlier this year that found that 35 percent of Boeing engineers who were interviewed told the U.S. regulator that conflicts of interest and lack of independence when communicating safety concerns at the company continue to exist despite two crashes that killed hundreds of people.
The news was initially released by The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News and other major media outlets that reported of an Aug. 19 letter to Boeing they obtained that was released Tuesday by the head of the FAA division overseeing the company.
“Boeing’s company culture appears to hamper members of the ODA unit from communicating openly with the FAA,” said the letter. ODA refers to Organization Designation Authorization, the group within Boeing that is authorized to make safety decisions on behalf of the government and is supposed to remain independent.
Clifford, lead counsel in the litigation against Boeing in the crash of a Boeing 737 MAX jet in Ethiopia in March 2019 that killed all 157 on board, represents 72 families who lost loved ones on that flight. He and his legal team are in the midst of discovery in the cases against the aircraft manufacturer based in Chicago.
Be sure to tune into Channel 7, ABC Chicago, to hear Clifford’s comments after his interview earlier on August 24th, 2021, with reporter Leah Hope.