F.A.A. Investigates Claims by Boeing Whistle-Blower About Flaws in 787 Dreamliner (2024)

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F.A.A. Investigates Claims by Boeing Whistle-Blower About Flaws in 787 Dreamliner? ›

Investigates Claims by Boeing Whistle-Blower About Flaws in 787 Dreamliner. The whistle-blower, an engineer, says that sections of the plane's body are being assembled in a way that could weaken the aircraft over time. Boeing says there is no safety issue.

The latest issue involves incorrect tightening of more than 900 fasteners per plane — split equally between both sides of the jet's mid-body.

Boeing is facing newly revealed whistleblower claims that its 787 Dreamliner planes have structural failings that could eventually cause them to break apart, adding to the unprecedented crisis facing the aviation giant.

At a glance. Boeing is fully confident in the 787 Dreamliner because of the comprehensive work done to ensure the quality and long-term safety of the aircraft. Claims about the structural integrity of the 787 are inaccurate.

A growing list of problems for Boeing. The claims aren't new: A previous whistleblower, Sam Salehpour, a Boeing engineer, said he found and reported similar gaps in 787 and 777 aircraft. For nearly two years starting in 2021, the FAA and Boeing halted deliveries of the new Dreamliners while it looked into the gaps.

FAA investigates Boeing after missed 787 Dreamliner inspections The FAA says Boeing informed the agency in April that required inspections to confirm that the wings were properly bonded to the carbon fiber fuselage on certain 787 jets were not completed.

Gaps in the Dreamliner

Boeing's 787 Dreamliner planes, which entered service in 2011, could have 50-year lifespans – around 44,000 flights each, the company says. But Salehpour's complaint alleges crews assembling the plane failed to properly fill tiny gaps when joining separately manufactured parts of the fuselage.

Barnett, a former quality manager who had worked at Boeing for decades, told the New York Times in 2019 that he had discovered unsafe wiring clusters in Boeing's manufacturing processes that, if severed by nearby metal slivers, could have led to the catastrophic failure of an aircraft.

Early 787 operations encountered several problems caused mainly by its lithium-ion batteries, including fires onboard some aircraft.

A Third Boeing Whistleblower Lives In Terror. This video features commentary from Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto's founding partner David Colapinto. A second Boeing whistleblower has died, and a third told Congress he feared for his life.

How safe is Boeing 787 Dreamliner? ›

Is the Boeing 787 Safe? Though the aircraft have been involved in some accidents, there have been no fatalities or hull losses. Though Salehpour's allegations are serious, the FAA hasn't grounded any aircraft as of now.

We call it the Dreamliner effect. The airplane's unparalleled fuel efficiency and range flexibility enables carriers to profitably open new routes as well as optimize fleet and network performance. And for their passengers, an experience like none other in the air, arriving to their destination feeling more refreshed.

The primarily composite structure, advanced aerodynamics, and efficient engines of the 787 enable it to have 25% lower fuel use and emissions than previous generation airplanes. At the end of the airplane's service life, a portion of the materials used to build the 787 can be recycled.

“The FAA is investigating whether Boeing completed the inspections and whether company employees may have falsified aircraft records. At the same time, Boeing is reinspecting all 787 airplanes still within the production system and must also create a plan to address the in-service fleet,” it said.

The whistleblower, Sam Salehpour, a Boeing engineer, alleged that Boeing took shortcuts when manufacturing its 777 and 787 Dreamliner jets — skipping crucial safety steps, which could lead to catastrophic failure of the airplanes as they age.

Given the current pace of production, Boeing is not expected to break 350 commercial plane deliveries by December. Quality problems brought the delivery of 787s to a grinding halt for more than a year. The company resumed its deliveries of the aircraft in mid-2022.

PARIS/WASHINGTON/MONTREAL, June 13 (Reuters) - Boeing (BA. N) , opens new tab is investigating a new quality problem with its 787 Dreamliner after discovering that hundreds of fasteners have been incorrectly installed on the fuselages of some undelivered jets, two people familiar with the matter said.

In the fall of 2020, Boeing found that certain components within the horizontal tail had been “clamped together during the build process with greater force than specified,” leaving potential gaps wider than the specification.

The report adds that in 2022, Boeing said that operators of its 787 Dreamliner jetliners had experienced paint peeling issues on wing and horizontal stabilizer surfaces from ultraviolet radiation exposure. Boeing's interim fix involved repeated use of “speed tape” over affected areas.

Significant quality control issues from 2019 onwards caused a production slowdown and, from January 2021 until August 2022, an almost total cessation of deliveries. Boeing has spent $32 billion on the program; estimates for the number of aircraft sales needed to break even vary between 1,300 and 2,000.