Boeing Faces Another Investigation over Quality Control Issues with 787 Dreamliners: What You Need to Know
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has launched an investigation into Boeing, the world’s largest aircraft manufacturer, over potential quality control issues on its 787 Dreamliner aircraft. The investigation aims to determine whether Boeing conducted the necessary inspections on its planes and whether employees falsified documents. Specifically, the investigation is looking into whether Boeing correctly carried out mandatory inspections related to the junction of the wings to the fuselage on certain 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
Boeing’s troubles have been mounting for over a year following two fatal crashes involving its 737 MAX planes in 2018 and 2019. These incidents led to a series of quality and safety issues that have affected various models of Boeing’s planes, including the 787 Dreamliner, which has faced numerous production problems since 2023. As a result, Boeing is re-inspecting all 787 aircraft still in production and developing a plan to care for the fleet in service.
The latest incident involves irregularities in a conformity test required at the wing body junction on certain 787 Dreamliner planes manufactured in South Carolina. Scott Stocker, head of the 787 program at Boeing, sent an email to employees informing them of these irregularities and revealed that several individuals had violated company policies by not performing a required test but recording it as completed. Despite this, the team of engineers assessed that the fault did not pose an immediate flight safety problem.
This latest setback adds to Boeing’s long list of challenges and has led to turmoil within the company. In response to these issues, Boeing’s CEO announced that he will step down at the end of this year. The FAA investigation is likely to continue well into next year as they work tirelessly to uncover any potential flaws in Boeing’s manufacturing processes and ensure that their planes are safe for passengers to fly on.
