Boeing flags concerns about some 787 inspections

BTN News
Thursday, 09 May 2024


The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it “is investigating whether Boeing completed the inspections and whether company employees may have falsified aircraft records”.

The FAA also is asking whether Boeing completed inspections to confirm adequate bonding and grounding where the wings join the fuselage on some 787 planes.

The nett impact is that Boeing is reinspecting all 787 airplanes "still within the production system" and also has to create a plan to address the in-service fleet.

Boeing has provided a 29 April email from Scott Stocker, who leads the company’s 787 program, sent to employees in South Carolina where the 787 is assembled.

In the email, which has been cited by Reuters, Stocker said an employee saw what appeared to be an irregularity in a required 787 conformance test and

“we quickly reviewed the matter and learned that several people had been violating company policies by not performing a required test, but recording the work as having been completed”.

Stocker said Boeing had promptly informed the FAA “about what we learned and took swift and serious corrective action with multiple employees".

He added that the company's engineering team "assessed that the misconduct did not create an immediate safety of flight issue”.

In April, whistleblower Sam Salehpour, a quality engineer who has worked for Boeing for four decades, told The New York Times that sections of the 787 had been fastened together incorrectly.

He claimed the fault could cause aircraft to age prematurely.

Boeing flags concerns about some 787 inspections

BTN News
Thursday, 09 May 2024


The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it “is investigating whether Boeing completed the inspections and whether company employees may have falsified aircraft records”.

The FAA also is asking whether Boeing completed inspections to confirm adequate bonding and grounding where the wings join the fuselage on some 787 planes.

The nett impact is that Boeing is reinspecting all 787 airplanes "still within the production system" and also has to create a plan to address the in-service fleet.

Boeing has provided a 29 April email from Scott Stocker, who leads the company’s 787 program, sent to employees in South Carolina where the 787 is assembled.

In the email, which has been cited by Reuters, Stocker said an employee saw what appeared to be an irregularity in a required 787 conformance test and

“we quickly reviewed the matter and learned that several people had been violating company policies by not performing a required test, but recording the work as having been completed”.

Stocker said Boeing had promptly informed the FAA “about what we learned and took swift and serious corrective action with multiple employees".

He added that the company's engineering team "assessed that the misconduct did not create an immediate safety of flight issue”.

In April, whistleblower Sam Salehpour, a quality engineer who has worked for Boeing for four decades, told The New York Times that sections of the 787 had been fastened together incorrectly.

He claimed the fault could cause aircraft to age prematurely.