Sliced Chinook Wiring To Protest Workplace Tedium

"I now know that a factory environment is not the place for me." That was one of the more obvious comments said Monday by former Boeing worker Matthew Montgomery, before a judge sentenced him to 10 months in confinemment for attempting to sabotage a Chinook helicopter on the assembly line in Ridley Park, PA last year.

As ANN reported, production came to a halt in May 2008 after workers discovered about 70 electrical wires from the cockpit to the main body of an H-47 had been cut. A 'suspicious' washer was also found in a second helicopter.

The latter incident remains under investigation... but the Associated Press reports Montgomery, 33, admitted he used wire cutters to cut the wiring on the first Chinook on May 10, during his last shift at Ridley Park.

In his defense, Montgomery told the judge he was stressed by the repetitiveness of his assembly line position -- and, about the fact he'd recently been transferred to another line position at the plant, despite applying for jobs at other Boeing facilities.

"He was upset about the repetitive nature of his tasks," public defender Mara Meehan wrote in a sentencing memo to the court. She also asserted Montgomery had unspecified problems from his childhood, and "took his frustration out on a machine because he would never harm another person."

The sliced wiring would have prevented the helicopter from flying.

US District Judge R. Barclay Surrick took some pity on Montgomery, sentencing him to five months in jail and five months under house arrest -- a sentence near the low end of judicial guidelines. He'll report to prison next month.

FMI: www.boeing.com.ids