Boeing uncovers another defect on 787 Dreamliner

Boeing said Thursday it will rework undelivered 787 Dreamliner planes after uncovering another defect on the jet, which has been halted for deliveries since May.

The company was notified by a supplier that some 787 parts “were improperly manufactured,” a Boeing spokesman told AFP, confirming aspects of a Wall Street Journal story.

“While our investigation is ongoing, we have determined that this does not present an immediate safety of flight concern for the active in-service fleet,” the Boeing spokesman said.

“Yet-to-deliver airplanes will be reworked as necessary prior to customer delivery. Any potential fleet actions will be determined through our normal review process and confirmed with the FAA.”

The Journal story, citing people familiar with the matter, described this issue as involving “certain titanium parts that are weaker than they should be” on jets built over the last three years.

Boeing halted deliveries of the 787 in May following a number of other problems on the plane and as company officials sought to reach an agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on a methodology to inspect the planes.

Boeing announced in July that it had spotted additional problems near the nose of the plane and was working to fix them.

The latest problem comes after a string of issues on its top-selling planes, particularly the 737 MAX, two of which crashed in 2018 and 2019, claiming 346 lives and leading to a 20-month grounding of the aircraft.

The Journal story also said the FAA was probing a series of quality-control issues, claiming the company allowed unqualified staff to sign off on quality checks.

Boeing declined to comment on the probe, saying it would be “premature” to discuss the issues with a party other than the FAA.

The FAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

© 2021 AFP