Boeing may see delays on 737 MAX plane deliveries after holes drilled where they shouldn’t be
A Boeing supplier has notified the embattled company that it has discovered incorrectly drilled holes on the fuselages of about 50 undelivered 737 MAX planes.
Boeing said Sunday it will have to perform additional work on the planes after its supplier, Spirit AeroSystems, found two misdrilled holes on some of the fuselages.
The manufacturing problem could cause near-term delays in deliveries of the aircraft.
Industry sources told Reuters that an “edge margin,” or spacing problem, had been discovered in holes drilled on a window frame on some of the aircraft.
“This past Thursday, a supplier notified us of a non-conformance in some 737 fuselages,” Stand Deal, Boeing’s commercial chief, said in a letter to staff referring to Spirit AeroSystems.
“I want to thank an employee at the supplier who flagged to his manager that two holes may not have been drilled exactly to our requirements,” Deal wrote.
“While this potential condition is not an immediate flight safety issue and all 737s can continue operating safely, we currently believe we will have to perform rework on about 50 undelivered airplanes,” he added.
Catch up on Boeing's ongoing airplane fiasco
Boeing has recently been plagued by safety concerns that began Jan. 5 after a door panel blew off a Boeing 737 MAX 9 jet during a flight from Oregon to California. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the plane — which was operated by Alaska Airlines — appeared to be missing four key bolts.
Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines, threatened to shun Boeing after the carrier’s fleet of MAX 9 aircraft was grounded in the wake of the near-disastrous Alaska Airlines door blowout.
Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, warned that another midair door blowout like the Boeing 737 MAX 9 fiasco “can happen again,” adding there was a “problem with the process” of production.
Disaster struck again a week after the initial incident when a Boeing plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Japan due to a crack in the cockpit window.
A Boeing 757 lost its front tire as the aircraft was preparing to depart for an international flight in late January. At Atlanta International Airport, a Delta flight bound for Bogota, Colombia, was taxiing across the runway into takeoff position when another plane alerted the control tower that something was amiss.
Later, a UK passenger was alarmed after noticing pieces of tape on the exterior of a Boeing 787 during a flight to India, as seen in shocking photos.
A United Airlines Boeing 777-300 aircraft suffered a midair fuel leak and was forced to make an emergency landing Monday, March 11, marking the fifth incident the airline reported in a little over a week.
Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary previously said he’s made “loud complaints” to Boeing over quality control.
Whistleblower John Barnett raised safety concerns at the airline’s factories and provided his first testimony at a bombshell lawsuit against Boeing. He was found dead in his truck after he failed to show up for the second part of his testimony on Monday.
Spirit AeroSystems rep Joe Buccino told Reuters that a member of its quality control team discovered an issue that did not conform to the supplier’s engineering standards.
“We are in close communication with Boeing on this matter,” he told Reuters.
Boeing has been under fire from regulators and airlines since an Alaska Airlines-owned 737 MAX 9 carrying 177 people lost a door plug in the skies over Oregon during a flight to California on Jan. 5, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing.
Deal said Boeing plans to devote several “factory days” this week at its plant outside Seattle to work on the holes and complete additional work.
Such days allow workers to pause normal work and address specific tasks without shutting production, according to Reuters, which said the Federal Aviation Administration had no immediate comment.
Last month, the agency said it planned to increase its oversight over Boeing and begin an immediate audit of the company’s production and manufacturing.
With Post wires