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THE UNITED STATES Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating reports against Boeing that the airline ignored safety and quality issues when producing its 787 and 777 series jets.
As quoted by Reuters, Wednesday (04/10), 2024, Boeing is grappling with a massive safety crisis that has damaged its reputation, following the explosion of an air panel on a 737 MAX aircraft on January 5.
As a result, the company had to go through a number of challenges as it underwent a management shake-up, then US regulators moved to limit Boeing production, and its deliveries fell by half in March.
Boeing engineer Sam Salehpour’s allegations stem from work on the company’s 787 and 777 wide-body jets.
Through his attorney, Sam said he faced retaliation, such as threats and exclusion from meetings, after he identified technical problems affecting the plane’s structural integrity. He also accused Boeing of using shortcuts to reduce drag during assembly of the 787.
For your information, Boeing has stopped deliveries of 787 wide-body jets for more than a year until August 2022 because the FAA is investigating quality problems and production weaknesses.
In 2021, Boeing said some 787 aircraft had shims that were inappropriately sized and some aircraft had areas that did not meet skin flatness specifications. A shim is a thin piece of material used to fill small gaps in manufactured products.
In a statement, Boeing said it had complete confidence in the quality of the 787 Dreamliner. Boeing also added that the claim is inaccurate and does not represent the comprehensive efforts Boeing has made to ensure the long-term quality and safety of the aircraft.
Salehpour observed shortcuts Boeing used to reduce bottlenecks during the 787-assembly process.
“This put excessive stress on the aircraft’s main joints, and embedded drilling debris between the main joints on more than 1,000 aircraft,” its lawyers said.
He told reporters by telephone on Tuesday that he saw misalignment problems in the production of 777 wide-body jets that were corrected using force. I’ve actually seen people jump over plane pieces to get them aligned. [sources/photo special]
