Written by DAVID KOENIG
Boeing is due to tell federal regulators Thursday how it plans to fix the safety and quality problems that have plagued its aircraft-manufacturing work in recent years.
The Federal Aviation Administration required the company to produce a turnaround plan after one of its jetliners suffered a blowout of a fuselage panel during an Alaska Airlines flight in January.
Nobody was hurt during the midair incident. Accident investigators determined that bolts that helped secure the panel to the frame of the Boeing 737 Max 9 were missing before the piece blew off. The mishap has further battered Boeing’s reputation and led to multiple civil and criminal investigations.
Whistleblowers have accused the company of taking shortcuts that endanger passengers, a claim that Boeing disputes. A panel convened by the FAA found shortcomings in the aircraft maker’s safety culture.
In late February, FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker gave Boeing 90 days to come up with a plan to improve quality and ease the agency’s safety concerns. Whitaker described the plan as the beginning, not the end, of a process to improve Boeing.
“It’s going to be a long road to get Boeing back to where they need to be, making safe airplanes,” he told ABC News last week.
The FAA limited Boeing production of the 737 Max, its best-selling plane, although analysts believe the number the company is making has fallen even lower than the FAA cap.
Boeing’s recent problems could expose it to criminal prosecution related to the deadly crashes of two Max jetliners in 2018 and 2019. The Justice Department said two weeks ago that Boeing violated terms of a 2021 settlement that allowed it to avoid prosecution for fraud. The charge was based on the company allegedly deceiving regulators about a flight-control system that was implicated in the crashes.
Most of the recent problems have been related to the Max, however Boeing and key supplier Spirit AeroSystems have also struggled with manufacturing flaws on a larger plane, the 787 Dreamliner. Boeing has suffered setbacks on other programs including its Starliner space capsule, a military refueling tanker, and new Air Force One presidential jets.
Boeing officials have vowed to regain the trust of regulators and the flying public. Boeing has fallen behind rival Airbus, and production setbacks have hurt the company’s ability to generate cash.
The company says it is reducing “traveled work” — assembly tasks that are done out of their proper chronological order — and keeping closer tabs on Spirit AeroSystems.
Featured image via Associated Press/Richard Drew
Related Stories
‹
![]()
FAA Clears Boeing 737 Max to Fly AgainAfter nearly two years and a pair of deadly crashes, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has cleared Boeing’s 737 Max for flight. The nation’s air safety agency announced the move early Wednesday, saying it was done after a “comprehensive and methodical” 20-month review process. Regulators around the world grounded the Max in March 2019, after […]
![]()
Panel’s Report Blasts Boeing, FAA for Crashes, Seeks ReformsA House committee issued a scathing report Wednesday questioning whether Boeing and government regulators have recognized the problems that caused two deadly 737 Max jet crashes and whether either will be willing to make significant changes to fix them. Staff members from the Democrat-controlled Transportation Committee blamed the crashes that killed 346 people on the […]
![]()
Boeing Papers Show Employees Slid 737 Max Problems Past FAABoeing employees knew about problems with flight simulators for the now-grounded 737 Max and apparently tried to hide them from federal regulators, according to documents released Thursday. In internal messages, Boeing employees talked about misleading regulators about problems with the simulators. In one exchange, an employee told a colleague they wouldn’t let their family ride […]
Ethiopian Airlines Says Analysis of Flight Recorders BeginsAnalysis of the flight recorders of the crashed Ethiopian Airlines plane has begun, the airline said Friday, and The New York Times reported that the pilot requested permission “in a panicky voice” to return to the airport shortly after takeoff as the plane dipped up and down sharply and appeared to gain startling speed. The […]
More Nations Ground Boeing 737 Max 8s After Ethiopia CrashThe flight recorders from the Boeing 737 Max 8 jet that crashed and killed all 157 people on board will be sent abroad for analysis, an Ethiopian Airlines spokesman said Wednesday, as much of the world grounded or barred the model and grieving families arrived at the site of the disaster. In an interview with […]
Officials Scour Charred Site of Kentucky UPS Plane Crash for Victims and AnswersThe grim task of finding victims from the firestorm that followed a UPS cargo plane crash in Louisville, Kentucky, entered a third day Thursday.
UNC Grad Rebecca Lobach Named as Third Soldier in Airliner, Army Helicopter CrashThe U.S. Army revealed UNC alumna and Triangle native Rebecca Lobach as one of the soliders in the helicopter and plane crash on Jan. 29.
What Is Known About the Collision Between a Passenger Jet and Army Helicopter Near DCWritten by HALLIE GOLDEN ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — A jet with 60 passengers and four crew members collided with an Army helicopter Wednesday while approaching the Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C. The aircraft plummeted into the Potomac River. Everyone on board was feared dead, officials said Thursday. The crash occurred in some of the most […]
Boeing Factory Workers Go on Strike After Rejecting Contract OfferAircraft assembly workers walked off the job early Friday at Boeing factories after union members voted overwhelmingly to go on strike.
Boeing Reaches Deadline for Reporting How it Will Fix Aircraft Safety and Quality ProblemsBoeing is due to tell federal regulators Thursday how it plans to fix the safety and quality problems that have plagued its aircraft.
›
