A Boeing quality engineer has made damaging allegations that the company took shortcuts in manufacturing, leading to potential structural flaws on its 787 and 777 planes. The engineer claims that around 1,000 787s and 400 777s currently in operation are at risk of premature fatigue damage and structural failure.
By Dominic Gates, The Seattle TimesThe 777 factory line, left, is seen next to the 787 line, right, at Boeing ’s Everett Production Facility on June 15, 2022, in Everett, Washington.
On Jan. 19, lawyers for Salehpour wrote a letter detailing his allegations to Mike Whitaker, head of the Federal Aviation Administration, which is investigating the claims. Boeing, facing rising public alarm about multiple safety issues, responded with a detailed rebuttal to the 787 allegations. As the carbon composite fuselage skin, metal fasteners and joint fittings expand and contract with temperature changes during a flight, such unfilled gaps would theoretically allow the joined sections to move slightly relative to one another.
Then he was transferred out of the 787 program to the 777 program, where he said he “hoped there would be fewer problems.”On the 777 program, he said he found that a new fuselage build system that Boeing first introduced in 2015 was implemented poorly so that the panels didn’t align properly. Mechanics had to use brute force to fasten them together, he said.
Boeing Quality Engineer Manufacturing Shortcuts Structural Flaws 787 777 Premature Fatigue Damage Structural Failure
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