By Andrew Tangel
U.S. air-safety regulators have launched an audit into how a
Boeing Co. factory tweak led to a safety problem with some of the
plane maker's 737 MAX aircraft, two years after a pair of fatal
crashes prompted other fixes to the jet.
The Federal Aviation Administration on Thursday said it is
investigating why Boeing missed that a minor production change
involving drilled holes wound up the root of potential electrical
problems, these people said.
The audit is expected to delve into issues beyond those
addressed by a typical agency review of such problems. Regulators
plan to examine how other minor production changes were handled,
people familiar with the matter said.
The FAA will examine "Boeing's process for making minor design
changes across its product line, with the goal of identifying areas
where the company can improve," the agency said after The Wall
Street Journal reported the audit.
The review could lead to changes in the agency's oversight, the
FAA indicated.
A Boeing spokesman said the company looks forward to direction
from the FAA as the plane maker continues to "improve safety and
quality in our processes." He said Boeing is working with the
agency and airlines to address the 737 MAX electrical issue.
The FAA's oversight of Boeing has been a focus of U.S. lawmakers
after two fatal 737 MAX crashes in late 2018 and early 2019 took
346 lives. Regulators grounded the global fleet for nearly two
years while hammering out software and other fixes. When the FAA
approved the aircraft to again carry passengers last November,
Administrator Steve Dickson called the 737 MAX the "most
scrutinized" airliner in history.
Five months later, when the electrical problem emerged, Boeing
recommended airlines take 109 of the jets -- about a quarter of the
global MAX fleet -- out of service. The FAA has said it would
mandate fixes to an "urgent safety issue" Boeing flagged before the
affected jets can resume passenger flights.
The seriousness of the risk to flights posed by the electrical
issue hasn't been clear-cut, according to people familiar with
discussions about the potential problems.
After Boeing identified the electrical issue, engineers
determined it affected a standby power supply unit and a rack
located behind the first officer's seat, as well as the cockpit's
main instrument panel, according to the FAA. One potential side
effect, people familiar with the matter said, could result in
flight crews being unaware that the plane's anti-icing systems
aren't working. Ice buildup can cause engine flameouts, or
temporary shutdowns.
The FAA, in a directive issued this week, said the electrical
issue could result in the "loss of critical functions and/or
multiple simultaneous flight deck effects, which may prevent
continued safe flight and landing." The FAA said the issue affected
109 aircraft, three more than previously disclosed.
Mr. Dickson has said that routine issues will inevitably arise
with MAX aircraft, as they do with other commercial aircraft. In
this case, the FAA said, U.S. aviation safeguards worked. "The
multilayered safety oversight system caught this issue, and the
FAA, operators and Boeing took action to mitigate the issue prior
to an incident or accident," the FAA said this week.
Boeing is also conducting its own review, according to an
internal April 19 FAA document viewed by the Journal and people
familiar with the matter.
The early 2019 production change at the root of Boeing's current
737 MAX predicament involves a shift to drilling one set of holes
instead of two when installing certain cockpit components, people
familiar with the matter said.
Previously, factory workers first drilled initial so-called
pilot holes, primed and then drilled a second set of holes. The
second set of holes stripped away the primer, allowing metal to
touch metal and thus providing a protective "grounding path" for
electrical current. By only drilling a single set of holes, the
primer got in the way of that safeguard. The aim was to make the
manufacturing process more efficient, some of the people said.
The manufacturing change wasn't significant enough to warrant
regulatory approval, according to the FAA. Senior FAA officials,
however, believe Boeing should have caught the unintended
consequence, people familiar with the matter said.
The 737 MAX's electrical issue first surfaced in early February
when a newly produced jet wouldn't start for Boeing pilots after it
rolled out of the factory, according to people familiar with the
matter.
The 737 MAX's latest grounding is the third time Boeing
commercial jets have been pulled from service in less than a year.
Boeing voluntarily grounded eight Dreamliners last year due to a
combination of production defects. The company also grounded
certain 777s after an engine failed and its cover broke apart over
Colorado earlier this year. Some industry officials said Boeing's
moves to voluntarily ground its aircraft reflect a more
conservative approach to safety in the wake of the earlier MAX
crashes.
The grounding has complicated operations for U.S. airlines as
domestic air travel demand picks up along with rising Covid-19
vaccination rates. Still, airline executives said they have enough
spare aircraft and hoped to soon return their grounded planes to
service after what they expect to be straightforward fixes.
The voluntary grounding doesn't affect all 737 MAXs in airlines'
fleets. Carriers had 459 of the jets in service or in storage as of
April 7, according to aviation data provider Ascend by Cirium.
Airline maintenance workers are expected to add so-called
bonding straps, comparable to jumper cables, to resolve the
electrical issue, people familiar with the matter said.
American Airlines Group Inc. President Robert Isom said he was
confident the 737 MAX "is going to be in the skies and the safest
and most reliable for years to come."
--Alison Sider contributed to this article.
Write to Andrew Tangel at Andrew.Tangel@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 29, 2021 17:37 ET (21:37 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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