Mr. Ed Pierson (he/him) is a safety advocate and the Boeing 737 MAX whistleblower. He is featured in the documentary film Flight/Risk by Karim Amer. He went public after two Boeing 737 MAX aircraft crashed in 2019, killing 356 people. Mr. Pierson had served as a Senior Manager at the 737 Factory in Renton, Washington. Prior to the accidents he raised concerns to Boeing executives about the dangerously unstable production environment—beset with overworked employees, chronic part shortages, quality issues, and unrelenting pressure to deliver MAX airplanes. Mr. Pierson recommended Boeing leadership immediately shut down production operations before both crashes, to no avail. He testified to Congress about the company’s failings as well as the failures of U.S. government aviation authorities.
Prior to his assignment at the 737 Factory, Mr. Pierson served as a Flight Operations Senior Manager within Boeing’s Flight Test and Evaluation organization—the division that is responsible for flight testing of all Boeing aircraft. Mr. Pierson also served in the U.S. Navy for 30 years in a combination of active and reserve roles. He held several leadership positions in the Navy including Squadron Commanding Officer and Operations Center Director. He has also authored three reports on these preventable tragedies.
He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Naval Flight School, and George Mason University.
