[TonyR]

https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/Documents/DCA24MA063%20Preliminary%20report.pdf for those of you who enjoy the tin kicking.

[cwoodward]

It is now confirmed officialy that there WERE several bolts actually missing from the door that blow off of the Alaskan aircraft
How many other of these aircraft are flying with bolts missing…….
I have no wish to see the demise of Boeing as we used to know it but I strongly suspect that one more failure of this nature will spell the end for them as a group.
Every day now there are additional reports of assembly problems,unchecked faults and lack of effective control in the construction processes and this cannot continue without some drastic action being taken by Boeing themselves or by the regulators.
Major customers are openingly declaring that they have no faith in the companys products or ability to build them -sad.

2 users thanked author for this post.

GivingupBA, stevescoots

[huey]

How Boeing has managed to stay viable as an airplane manufacturer is amazing. I do believe they have a very strong relationship with the American government. Hard to fathom why they’re allowed to continue in business.

[stevescoots]

nice juicy Govt contracts (and contacts) certainly helps

1 user thanked author for this post.

cwoodward

[IanFromHKG]

Part of the problem is dependency, and another is the lack of an alternative:

Southwest Considers Boeing an “Operational Risk,” While Airbus Could Face Delays

1 user thanked author for this post.

cwoodward

[IanFromHKG]

And now we see that Boeing are unable to identify the personnel involved in reinstalling the Alaska Airlines door plug without the retaining bolts, or whether they followed the correct procedures. https://simpleflying.com/boeing-cannot-find-documentation-work-alaska-airlines-737-max-9-door-plug/?utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=SF-202403090900&utm_source=SF-NL&user=aWFuLmhhcmRlZUBnbWFpbC5jb20

As if that weren’t enough, a United Airlines flight suffered stuck rudder controls. https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/07/business/ntsb-probing-stuck-control-incident-on-boeing-737-max/index.html. Not just that, but (according to the article) “United maintenance crews were able to “duplicate the reported rudder system malfunction” during a test flight three days later” (emphasis added). In fairness, this wasn’t a typical UA setup since the airframe was originally delivered to another airline, but all the same…

In other news, Boeing is looking to buy Spirit Aero (which it spun off previously) in a possible attempt to improve quality issues. This article from Reuters suggests that might not be the fix. https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/boeings-spirit-aero-bid-could-help-supply-chain-is-no-cure-all-2024-03-05/

I put the MAX on my no-go list after the two crashes and gave Boeing two years to earn my confidence back before I would fly on one – sadly, they’ve lost that confidence again.

[huey]

Boeing is an American joke. And they’re the ones who are laughing at the gullibility of the public. Boeing just keeps screwing things up, meeting with regulators without tangible results, and walking away to screw up something else. It’s like an endurance contest to see how much they can get away with.

[cwoodward]

Can these revelations get worse ?

The Federal Aviation Administration auditors apparently saw mechanics at Boeing using liquid Dawn soap as a lubricant for fitting a door seal. The regulator then observed mechanics at Spirit AeroSystems, which builds the fuselage of Boeing’s 737 Max, cleaning up using only a wet cheesecloth. A note for the liquid soap incident said the door seal fitting instructions were “vague and unclear on what specifications or actions are to be followed or recorded by the mechanic.” A spokesperson for Spirit told The Times the firm is “reviewing all identified nonconformities for corrective action.” Again!

the Times report was quoting the FAA report which said that Boeing had failed 33 of 89 product audits related to 737 Max production, while Spirit (a Boeing off-shoot that builds the fuselages failed seven of 13 audits.

These very worrying findings were part of a six-week audit documented in a set of FAA presentation slides upon which The Times based its report.

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GivingupBA

[Rferguson2]

A sad update to this, one of the original ‘whistleblowers’ that spoke out about safety concerns at Boeing has reportedly taken his own life.

John Barnett worked for Boeing for 32 years and became an outspoken critic of their spiralling safety standard when MD management took over.

He was this past week in court against Boeing accusing them of ruining his character and career chances. He was found in a parking lot dead with the coroner listing ‘self inflicted wound’ as the cause.

[Johnnyg]

BBC tonight reports that the Boeing whistleblower has been found dead.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68534703

[huey]

Probably more to the story of the whistle-blower’s death.

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tomyam42

[AMcWhirter]

Previously we reported that United had ordered a huge number of 737MAX 10 aircraft.

However not only has the MAX 10 not yet been manufactured but it still needs certification. This could take time.

Now industry bible Flightglobal.com reports that United is looking to Airbus instead.

[possible paywall]

https://www.flightglobal.com/fleets/united-considering-a321neo-order-as-737-max-10-certification-stalls/157340.article?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=Sendible&utm_campaign=RSS

[LetsFlyNow]

Indeed a day or two ago United’s CEO Scott Kirby said that they had asked Boeing to stop building the MAX 10 for the carrier and instead focus on the MAX 9 as the MAX 10 is no longer part of the fleet planning at UA for years to come.

United bosses are said to have travelled to France in Jan/Feb to see if Airbus can deliver them the A321neo soon and Airbus was said to be talking to customers to see who was willing to defer their orders so as to give United those slots. This was widely reported in Germany.

I’m pretty sure that will be probably tied to United formalising their A350 order which has more or less been in limbo.

It’ll be interesting to see how Boeing progresses and or if the US gov might actually step in with a partial ownership/equity of sorts to try steer the wheel.

[david]

Splitting up Boeing and giving the commercial aircraft arm a new name might be a good idea given what’s happening now. And with China stepping up in the market, it’s going to be tough for Boeing to keep its reputation intact.

2 users thanked author for this post.

summerfly, cwoodward

[cwoodward]

Where does Boeings incompetence and duplicity end ?

Below from media reports this week:

This week, the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, Jennifer Homendy, told senators that the agency’s investigation into the troubled flight was having difficulty because Boeing had not retained the kind of documentation necessary to understand how the door had malfunctioned.

“To date, we still do not know who performed the work to open, reinstall, and close the door plug on the accident aircraft,” Homendy wrote in a letter to the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. “Boeing has informed us that they are unable to find the records documenting this work. A verbal request was made by our investigators for security camera footage to help obtain this information; however, they were informed the footage was overwritten. The absence of those records will complicate the NTSB’s investigation moving forward.”

[Author]

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