The Federal Aviation Administration is looking again Boeing after the aircraft manufacturer told safety authorities that some required inspections on some wings may have been skipped 787 Dreamliner. This is, uh, not ideal. A statement said: FAA said Boeing disclosed this issue back in April, and now the agency is investigating whether employees at Boeing fake aircraft records.
Just to get an overview of the topic, Boeing apparently checks each one again Dreamliner that’s still in production, and the FAA says the manufacturer needs to create a plan to fix problems with it 787s that are currently in use, loud The New York Times. Here’s more from the outlet:
“As the investigation continues, the FAA will – as always – take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of the flying public,” the statement said.
Boeing did not comment on the agency’s statement, but shared an email about the issue that a senior executive sent last week to employees in South Carolina, where the company makes the Dreamliner. In that statement, the executive said Boeing had determined there was no immediate risk to flight safety.
The FAA also posted a comment on NPRand it reads as follows:
In a statement to NPR, the FAA said it was also investigating “whether Boeing completed inspections and whether company employees may have falsified aircraft records.” The agency also said Boeing “must re-examine all 787 aircraft still in the production system and also develop a remediation plan for the in-service fleet.”
The FAA has tightened his exams Boeing and that 787 after production defects in the aircraft were discovered in 2022.
Scott Socker, Director the 787 program wrote that an employee “saw something in our factory that he believed was not done correctly and spoke out about it.” The issue was brought to the leadership team, who notified it FAA. “After receiving the report, we quickly investigated the matter and determined that several individuals had violated company policy by failing to perform a required test but instead logging the work as completed.”
Boeing told NPR that it is taking “swift and serious corrective action” on a number of employees involved.
Here’s a quick overview of it Boeing has been on my mind lately (it’s a lot). Out of NPR:
In March, a former Boeing quality control manager turned whistleblower about safety problems on the 787 Dreamliner was found dead in a vehicle after apparently inflicting a self-inflicted shot. John Barnett had testified in a deposition the day before about a series of problems he said he found at Boeing’s factory in North Charleston, South Carolina.
Boeing came under renewed scrutiny for production and quality control failures after a door plug on a 737 Max 9 flew off mid-flight in January. After this incident, the FAA accused Boeing of “Multiple instances” of quality control deficiencies in 737 Max production. Boeing is still reeling from the crashes of two 737 Max planes that killed a total of 346 people in 2018 and 2019. Faulty flight software was blamed for both crashes.
This all begs the question: If it’s Boeing, are you still driving??