Boeing Faces New Investigation over False Inspections of 787 Dreamliners
Boeing has recently come under fire for quality control issues related to the construction of some of its 787 “Dreamliner” long-haul jets. Specifically, there were reports that the connection between the wings and fuselage was not properly checked as it should have been, leading to an investigation by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It was later discovered that Boeing employees had falsified test reports related to this issue, prompting a deeper investigation.
Boeing confirmed that checks on the connection between the fuselage and wings were skipped but were inaccurately recorded as completed. The company assured that this was not an immediate safety concern for the current fleet of airplanes and that no aircraft needed to be grounded. However, the FAA announced a new investigation to ensure all necessary inspections were conducted and to look into the allegations of forgery.
The issue was brought to light when a Boeing employee reported a violation of audit requirements to management. It was discovered that certain tests were skipped but falsely documented as completed by staff at the South Carolina plant. Boeing promptly notified the FAA of the violation and is now conducting unscheduled inspections.
This incident comes after several other concerns related to Boeing’s quality oversight have been raised in recent years. For example, there was an incident in which a piece of fuselage detached from a Boeing 737-9 Max shortly after take-off, which led to a request from the FAA for Boeing to improve its quality controls and halt the expansion of 737 Max production. Additionally, a whistleblower at a Senate hearing claimed that many 787 aircraft had gaps between fuselage parts that were too high, potentially affecting their service life. Boeing denies these allegations.
