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Boeing

(Bild: AP)

Boeing can't get out of the headlines: The aircraft manufacturer has announced that employees falsified test reports on the 787 Dreamliner long-haul jet, triggering a further investigation by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Inspections of the connection between the fuselage and wings were partially omitted and nevertheless entered as having been carried out.

The new investigation was announced by the FAA on Monday. It is being examined whether the necessary inspections were carried out - and the authority is also investigating the allegations of falsification. The company is checking all 787 Dreamliners on the production lines and must also draw up a corresponding plan for aircraft that are in operation.

Boeing emphasized that it had immediately informed the FAA of the violation. A Boeing employee had observed a violation of the test specifications and informed management, wrote 787 program manager Scott Stocker in an e-mail to the workforce. Boeing had then discovered that "several people" at the plant in the US state of South Carolina had not carried out the prescribed tests, but had noted them as completed in the documentation. The inspections would now have to be rescheduled. The company emphasized that this was not an urgent safety issue for the current fleet and that no aircraft would have to be grounded.

Fuselage fragment broken out
Quality control at Boeing has been the focus of increased attention since a dramatic incident at the beginning of January. Shortly after take-off, an almost new Boeing 737-9 Max belonging to the US airline Alaska Airlines broke off a fragment of the fuselage at seat row 26 during the climb. No one was injured, as the two seats near the hole in the fuselage had remained empty by a lucky coincidence and the aircraft was still at a relatively low altitude.

The FAA then asked Boeing to submit a plan to improve quality controls. The authority also blocked Boeing's planned expansion of 737 Max production until further notice.

Also problems with the 787
The 787 program was the subject of a recent hearing in the US Senate. According to a Boeing employee acting as a whistleblower, too many gaps were allowed between the fuselage sections of many aircraft of this type, which could shorten the service life of the aircraft. Boeing emphatically rejects these allegations.