Boeing targeted by new investigation by aviation regulator

The American Civil Aviation Regulatory Agency (FAA) has opened a new investigation into Boeing to find out whether the aircraft manufacturer correctly carried out mandatory inspections regarding the joining of the wings to the fuselage “on certain 787 Dreamliner aircraft”, she said in an email on Monday, May 6. The agency specifies that it “investigating whether Boeing carried out the inspections and whether company employees may have falsified documents related to the plane”.

This investigation was initiated after Boeing informed the FAA in April that it “may not have carried out required inspections”. The aircraft manufacturer “re-inspects all 787 aircraft still in production and must also develop a plan to care for the in-service fleet”, adds the FAA, which does not specify whether planes in service must be recalled for inspection. The agency gave the company three months to present a plan to resolve “systematic quality control problems”.

The 787 Dreamliner and the 737 MAX have suffered many production problems since 2023, which have slowed down the aircraft manufacturer’s deliveries. This has forced several airlines to change their flight schedules for 2024.

“Irregularity in a conformity test”

Scott Stocker, head of the 787 program, sent an email on April 29 to his employees at Boeing in South Carolina, where the planes are manufactured, informing them that a “teammate saw what appeared to be an irregularity in a required compliance test at the wing body junction”.

“He spoke to his manager, who brought it to the attention of senior management”he added. “We quickly looked into the matter and learned that several individuals had violated company policies by not performing a required test but recording the work as completed”, wrote Scott Stocker again. He assured that the« team of engineers [de Boeing] assessed that this fault did not create an immediate flight safety problem”.

Boeing is going through a difficult time after several incidents. Three of the four commercial aircraft models currently manufactured by the American group are officially the subject of an investigation by the American Civil Aviation Regulatory Agency. The regulator has closely monitored Boeing’s favorite 737 since January, and is also investigating the 777 and the 787 Dreamliner, whose structural integrity had been called into question by a previous whistleblower.

The aircraft manufacturer, which had already struggled to recover after two 737 MAX crashes, that of the Malaysian company Lion Air in 2018 and that of Ethiopian Airlines in 2019, has been in turmoil for more than a year. Several quality and safety issues have affected its planes. Latest serious incident to date: an Alaska Airlines Boeing lost a door stopper in flight on January 5.

Boeing CEO to step down

On April 17, four whistleblowers, including an engineer and former Boeing employees, also testified before a US Senate inquiry committee to warn of “serious problems” production of Boeing 737 MAX, 787 Dreamliner and 777 aircraft.

One of the whistleblowers said he was subject to retaliation when he raised questions about the manufacturing processes of the 787, which he said threatened the safety of the planes. These setbacks led to the announcement of the departure of Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun, who is due to leave his position at the end of the year.

Last week, Glass Lewis, the advisory firm to Boeing’s institutional shareholders, urged them to vote against the re-election of three former members to the board of directors, including Dave Calhoun.