FAA says new Boeing production problem discovered in undelivered 787 Dreamliners

WASHINGTON / SEATTLE, July 12 (Reuters) – The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Monday night that some undelivered Boeing (BN) 787 Dreamliners have a new build quality issue that America’s largest aircraft manufacturer will fix before the planes are delivered.

The FAA said the problem was “close to nose on some 787 Dreamliners in the company’s inventory of undelivered aircraft.” This issue was discovered as part of the ongoing system-wide inspection of the Boeing 787’s timing processes required by the FAA.

The FAA added that “although the problem does not pose an immediate threat to flight safety, Boeing is committed to repairing these planes before resuming deliveries.” Air regulators added that after reviewing the data, it “will determine whether similar modifications need to be made to the 787s already in commercial service.”

Boeing declined to comment. Reuters first reported that the new production issue affected Boeing’s ailing 787 Dreamliner. The company has approximately 100,787 undelivered items in stock.

Boeing suspended deliveries of the 787 in late May after the FAA raised concerns about its proposed inspection method, saying it was “waiting for additional data from Boeing before determining whether the company’s solution meets the standards. security rules”.

The FAA had published in May two airworthiness directives to solve the problems of production of the planes in service.

The US aircraft maker’s 737 MAX and 787 have been hit by electrical and other issues since late last year, and it only resumed deliveries of the 787s in March after a five-month hiatus – for stop them again in May.

Two leading U.S. lawmakers said in May they were seeking files from Boeing and the FAA on production issues involving the 737 MAX and the 787 Dreamliner.

The FAA said in September it was investigating manufacturing defects involving some 787 Dreamliners. Boeing said in August that airlines operating its 787 Dreamliners had withdrawn eight jets from service due to two separate manufacturing issues.

In September, Boeing said some 787 planes had chocks that weren’t the right size, and some planes had areas that didn’t meet skin flatness specifications.

Last month at a conference, Boeing chief executive Dave Calhoun said the 787s “are performing wonderfully.”

But he added that “the FAA rightly wants to know more about the analysis and process controls that we put in place, which are different from what we had before, so that we can be more perfect.”

Calhoun said he hoped the FAA’s review of Boeing’s approach would be “measured in months and not beyond the calendar year.”

In February, Reuters reported that Boeing was beginning thorough repairs and forensic inspections to correct structural integrity defects embedded deep inside at least 88,787 parked.

The fuel-efficient 787 has been a hit with airlines, which have ordered nearly 1,900 advanced twin-aisle jets worth nearly $ 150 billion at list price.

The FAA has criticized certain Boeing safety practices in recent years and fined Boeing $ 6.6 million in February for failing to comply with a 2015 safety agreement.

The agency has not allowed the Boeing 737 MAX to resume flights for nearly 20 months after two fatal crashes and only after adding important safeguards to a key system.

Last month, Reuters reported that the FAA told Boeing in May that its planned 777X was not yet ready for a major certification milestone and warned that it would only “realistically” certify the aircraft. in mid-end of 2023.

Reporting by David Shepardson and Eric M. Johnson; Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Christopher Cushing

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.