By Andrew Tangel and Andy Pasztor
Production problems at a Boeing Co. 787 Dreamliner factory have
prompted air-safety regulators to review quality-control lapses
potentially stretching back almost a decade, according to an
internal government memo and people familiar with the matter.
The plane maker has told U.S. aviation regulators that it
produced certain parts at its South Carolina facilities that failed
to meet its own design and manufacturing standards, according to an
Aug. 31 internal Federal Aviation Administration memo reviewed by
The Wall Street Journal.
As a result of "nonconforming" sections of the rear fuselage, or
body of the plane, that fell short of engineering standards,
according to the memo and these people, a high-level FAA review is
considering mandating enhanced or accelerated inspections that
could cover hundreds of jets.
The memo, a routine update or summary of safety issues pending
in the FAA's Seattle office that oversees Boeing design and
manufacturing issues, says such a safety directive could cover as
many as about 900 of the roughly 1,000 Dreamliners delivered since
2011.
The final language depends on the outcome of ongoing reviews by
Boeing and the agency, as well as decisions by more-senior FAA
officials. The extent of the review reflects that the agency's
concerns are significant.
Boeing has told regulators a defect resulting from the quality
lapse doesn't pose an immediate safety threat to Boeing's flagship
fleet of Dreamliners, people familiar with the matter said. The
wide-body jets have an excellent safety record and are frequently
used on international routes. Regulators aren't preparing immediate
action and haven't publicly signaled what steps they might
take.
But that slip-up combined with another recently discovered
assembly-line defect prompted Boeing to take the unusual step in
late August to voluntarily tell airlines to ground eight of their
787s for immediate repairs. Since then, Boeing has publicly
confirmed the eight planes weren't safe to remain in service.
Both defects together led Boeing to determine the eight jets
didn't meet structural-soundness "requirements for safe flight and
landing," according to the FAA memo, which summarized the status of
the agency's examination of the issue. Boeing also determined the
second defect by itself doesn't pose an imminent safety hazard.
The extent of FAA scrutiny of Dreamliner production lapses and
the period it covers haven't been reported before. The Air Current,
a trade publication, earlier reported the factory lapses and August
groundings of the eight planes, which are slated to end when
Boeing-led teams complete fixes expected to take about two
weeks.
A Boeing spokesman said the plane maker is conducting a thorough
review to understand the root cause of the two defects and is
inspecting newly produced airplanes before delivery. The company
has fully briefed the FAA and is working closely with regulators,
he added. "We are taking the appropriate steps to resolve these
issues and prevent them from happening again," he said.
The FAA, in responses to questions about the groundings and
broader production review, has said it "is aware of the matter and
continues to engage with Boeing." The agency's high-level review
includes analyses of data and production parts.
The manufacturing slip-ups mark the latest production problems
for the troubled plane maker and present a test for Chief Executive
David Calhoun and a revamped safety-review process following two
fatal accidents of its narrow-body 737 MAX. The crashes took 346
lives.
The Boeing spokesman said a new internal safety-review process
put in place after the MAX crashes worked as intended. He added
that the company took proactive steps to address the problems.
Boeing quickly notified airlines with Dreamliners needing
immediate repairs, the spokesman said. The carriers include United
Airlines Holdings Inc., Air Canada, All Nippon Airways Co Ltd.,
Singapore Airlines Ltd., Air Europa Líneas Aéreas S.A.U., Norwegian
Air Shuttle ASA, and Etihad Airways, according to people familiar
with the matter and aviation-tracking service Flightradar24.
A United spokesman said the airline removed a 787 from service
immediately after Boeing's notification. ANA said it grounded its
plane after Boeing flagged the problem and didn't need the aircraft
back immediately because of weak market demand. Representatives of
the other carriers didn't immediately respond to requests for
comment.
Stepped-up safety inspections and repairs could disrupt airline
maintenance schedules and passenger flight schedules.
Deliberations about mandated inspections and how many
Dreamliners might be covered have been under way inside the FAA for
months, according to people familiar with the matter. Such a
directive would target excessive stresses that could cause
premature material fatigue affecting the carbon composite parts
that fit behind the passenger cabin. A person familiar with
Boeing's internal review said Sunday that there is no indication at
this point suggesting the defects stretch back to the jet's early
years but said the analysis was continuing.
The FAA, according to one person briefed on the agency's
deliberations, is focused on identifying how the manufacturing
breakdowns occurred, why Boeing's computerized safeguards failed to
flag mismatches between the parts that failed to meet design
standards and what changes are required to ensure the 787 fleet's
continued safety.
As Boeing engineers comb through records to identity planes with
possible flaws, the FAA already has learned what prompted one of
the defects: the plane maker didn't test how it produces shims, or
material that fills gaps between barrel-shaped sections of the
jets' fuselages, to ensure they meet requirements, according to the
FAA memo. The shims are produced at Boeing's Dreamliner factory in
North Charleston, S.C.
Boeing's process to generate shims was "not validated prior to
implementation into the production process" and lacked a quality
check to verify the final product "meets the engineering
requirements," according to the FAA memo. "Boeing has acknowledged
a process that produces nonconforming products" and is working to
change that, the memo adds.
According the memo, Boeing's request for more time to resolve
some issues "adds to the risk of the fleet."
Boeing identified the suspect shims in August 2019 and
immediately reactivated a computerized quality check that
identifies improper shims that had been turned off, the person
familiar with Boeing's internal review said. The second defect,
which this person said Boeing detected last month as part of an
internal review, stems from variations in the smoothness of the
interior fuselage skin near the rear of the planes.
When both defects occur in the same location, Boeing engineers
determined, the composite sections don't fit properly when fastened
together and tiny imperfections could result in a potential hazard
under extreme flying conditions, albeit circumstances pilots would
rarely encounter, people familiar with matter said. Typically, such
structural faults prompt mandatory FAA safety action.
Boeing engineers have been reviewing manufacturing records,
including high-resolution photographs taken during production, to
determine how many Dreamliners delivered since the plane's 2011
debut may contain fuselage defects, the people familiar with the
matter said.
The episode is the latest example of Boeing manufacturing
snafus. In recent years Boeing has had to revamp quality checks to
prevent workers leaving debris inside the Dreamliner, its KC-46A
military air-refueling tankers and narrow-body 737 MAX jets.
Boeing's move to ground the Dreamliner on its own volition
contrasts with how the aerospace giant responded to the 737 MAX
crashes. Following the second accident in Ethiopia in March 2019,
Boeing didn't immediately call for the aircraft's grounding as
global regulators began issuing flight bans.
--Doug Cameron contributed to this article.
Write to Andrew Tangel at Andrew.Tangel@wsj.com and Andy Pasztor
at andy.pasztor@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 07, 2020 13:51 ET (17:51 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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