WASHINGTON, April 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate

Commerce Committee said on Thursday it would hold a hearing next

week with members of an expert panel that released a report in

February criticizing Boeing's ( BA ) safety culture and calling

for significant improvements.

The hearing next Wednesday comes as the U.S. planemaker has

been grappling with a full-blown safety crisis that has

undermined its reputation following a Jan. 5 mid-air panel

blowout on a new 737 MAX 9. It has since undergone a management

shakeup, U.S. regulators have put curbs on its production and

its aircraft deliveries fell by half in March.

The committee will hear from three panel members, including

Tracy Dillinger, a NASA expert on safety culture, Javier de

Luis, an aeronautics expert at MIT, and Najmedin Meshkati, a

University of Southern California professor and expert on

aviation safety.

Senator Maria Cantwell, the committee chair, said on

Wednesday she was impressed with the expert witness panel report

and wanted to hear from members first before she called the

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for a future hearing.

Boeing ( BA ) declined to comment on the hearing.

The panel's report was directed by Congress after fatal

737 MAX crashes in Indonesia in 2018 and Ethiopia in 2019 that

killed 346 people, including panel member De Luis' sister in the

Ethiopian crash.

It criticized Boeing's ( BA ) safety culture on a number of fronts

and found "a lack of awareness of safety-related metrics at all

levels of the organization."

The panel also cited an "inadequate and confusing

implementation of the components of a positive safety culture."

The panel was appointed by the FAA in early 2023 and

said that within six months Boeing ( BA ) should review the

recommendations "and develop an action plan."

The FAA in February ordered Boeing ( BA ) to address systemic

quality-control issues within 90 days after an audit found fault

with the company's manufacturing processes.

The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations will

hear testimony later in the day next Wednesday from a Boeing ( BA )

whistleblower and company engineer Sam Salehpour who claims it

dismissed safety and quality concerns in the production of 787

and 777 jets.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, the panel's chair, said

Salehpour will testify on what the senator called "Boeing's ( BA )

broken safety culture." Blumenthal has also asked outgoing CEO

Dave Calhoun to testify at a future hearing.

Boeing ( BA ) responded this week to Salehpour, saying the company

is fully confident in the 787, adding that the claims "are

inaccurate and do not represent the comprehensive work Boeing ( BA )

has done to ensure the quality and long-term safety of the

aircraft."