Boeing is defending the integrity of the fuselages of two of its largest planes, which have been criticized by A whistleblower which warns that the external panels of one of the planes may eventually break during the flight.
Two Boeing engineering executives went into detail Monday to describe how the panels fit together, especially on the 787 Dreamliner. They suggested that the 787’s carbon composite skin is nearly immune to metal fatigue, which weakens conventional aluminum fuselages.
His comments during a lengthy news conference served both as a response to last week’s news about the whistleblower allegations and as a preemptive strike before he testifies before a congressional panel on Wednesday.
The whistleblower, Boeing engineer Sam Salehpour, said excessive force was applied to fit the panels together on the 787 assembly line, increasing the risk of fatigue or microscopic cracks in the material that could cause them to break.
Boeing officials described how sections of a fuselage are joined together, shims are added to fill gaps, holes are drilled and cleaned, and fasteners are attached to apply “pull force” that 99% of the time results in margins no greater than 0.000. 0.005 inches (0.127 millimeters) away – the width of a human hair, they said. A gap issue was discovered in 2019 between two panels, which led to design and assembly changes, they said.
Boeing has conducted tests replicating 165,000 flights without any findings of fatigue in the composite structure, said Steve Chisholm, Boeing vice president of structural engineering. The average 787 makes 600 flights a year, he said.
The company said the planes already in use are proving safe. Chisholm said 671 Dreamliners underwent intensive plane inspections that were 6 years old and eight underwent 12-year-old inspections with no evidence of fatigue in the composite layers.
Cracks were found in metal parts, including a piece above where the wings join the fuselage, and Boeing has issued inspection guidelines for those parts, officials said.
The 787 Dreamliner is a twin-aisle plane that has been widely used on international flights since its debut in 2011. The composite material makes the plane lighter, contributing to better fuel efficiency.
A series of battery goes off briefly landed the planes. Deliveries of the aircraft were halted at times due to concerns about gaps between fuselage panels that were wider than Boeing standards allowed, the use of unapproved titanium parts from a supplier in Italy and failures in a pressure bulkhead.
The Federal Aviation Administration must inspect and approve every 787 that rolls off the assembly line before it can be transported to a customer airline.
Whistleblower Salehpour claims that after raising safety concerns about the 787, Boeing reassigned him to work on an older widebody plane, the 777. He told the Seattle Times that he saw workers jumping on the fuselage panels to align them, the which Boeing disputes. .
The New York Times reported that the FAA is investigating Salehpour’s allegations. The FAA, while not commenting specifically on Salehpour, said it investigates all safety reports.
Boeing says it is “completely confident” in both planes.
Salehpour is the latest in a series of Boeing whistleblowers to come forward, often alleging retaliation for raising safety concerns. The company said it encourages employees to speak up about problems.
Lisa Fahl, vice president of engineering for Boeing’s airplane programs, said employee reports have “exploded” — with as many reports in January and February as will be filed in all of 2023 — “which is what we want.”
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
