Washington:
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) mentioned late on Monday that some undelivered Boeing 787 Dreamliners have a new manufacturing good quality concern that the biggest U.S. planemaker will repair just before the planes will be delivered.
The FAA mentioned the concern is “near the nose on certain 787 Dreamliners in the company’s inventory of undelivered airplanes. This issue was discovered as part of the ongoing system-wide inspection of Boeing’s 787 shimming processes required by the FAA.”
The FAA added that “although the issue poses no immediate threat to flight safety, Boeing has committed to fix these airplanes before resuming deliveries.” The air regulators added soon after a critique of information it “will determine whether similar modifications should be made on 787s already in commercial service.”
Boeing declined to comment. Reuters very first reported the new production concern to hit Boeing’s troubled 787 Dreamliner. The business has about one hundred undelivered 787s in inventory.
Boeing suspended deliveries of the 787 in late May soon after the FAA raised issues about its proposed inspection strategy, saying it was “waiting for additional data from Boeing before determining whether the company’s solution meets safety regulations.”
The FAA in May had issued two airworthiness directives to address production troubles for in-service airplanes.
The U.S. planemaker’s 737 MAX and 787 have been afflicted by electrical and other troubles considering the fact that late last year, and it had only resumed deliveries of the 787s in March soon after a 5-month hiatus – only to halt them once more in May.
Two crucial U.S. lawmakers mentioned in May they have been in search of records from Boeing and the FAA on production troubles involving the 737 MAX and 787 Dreamliner.
The FAA mentioned in September it was investigating manufacturing flaws involving some 787 Dreamliners. Boeing mentioned in August airlines operating its 787 Dreamliners removed eight jets from service as a outcome of two distinct manufacturing troubles.
In September, Boeing mentioned some 787 airplanes had shims that have been not the right size, and some airplanes had regions that did not meet skin-flatness specifications.
Last month at a conference, Boeing Chief Executive Dave Calhoun mentioned the 787s have been “performing beautifully.”
But he added “the FAA rightfully wants to know more about the analytics and process controls that we put in place, which are different than the ones that we had previously, so that we could be more perfect.”
Calhoun mentioned he hoped the FAA’s critique of Boeing’s method was “measured in months and not longer than the calendar year.”
In February, Reuters reported Boeing was starting painstaking repairs and forensic inspections to repair structural integrity flaws embedded deep inside at least 88 parked 787s.
The fuel-effective 787 has been a hit with airlines, which have ordered practically 1,900 of the sophisticated twin-aisle jet worth practically $150 billion at list rates.
The FAA has been crucial of some Boeing security practices in current years and imposed a $6.6 million fine on Boeing in February for failing to comply with a 2015 security agreement.
The agency did not let the Boeing 737 MAX to resume flights for practically 20 months following two fatal crashes and only soon after it added considerable safeguards to a crucial method.
Last month, Reuters reported the FAA told Boeing in May its planned 777X was not but prepared for a considerable certification step and warned it “realistically” will not certify the airplane till mid- to late 2023.
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