US opens Boeing probe over possible 'falsified' 787 records

AFP

US air safety authorities are investigating whether aviation giant Boeing completed required inspections on its 787 aircraft and whether employees falsified records, officials said on Monday.

The issue centres on whether Boeing undertook required inspections to “confirm adequate bonding and grounding where the wings join the fuselage on certain 787 Dreamliner airplanes,” the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in an email.

The FAA said it opened the investigation after Boeing notified it that the company may not have completed the required inspections, which are necessary to ensure a safe and efficient electrical flow between aircraft components.

“The FAA is investigating whether Boeing completed the inspections and whether company employees may have falsified aircraft records,” the agency said.

The issue surfaced after a Boeing employee observed an “irregularity” and raised the issue with a supervisor who elevated it further.

“We quickly reviewed the matter and learned that several people had been violating company policies by not performing a required test, but recording the work as having been completed,” Scott Stocker, head of the Boeing 787 program, said in an email to staff.

Safety experts have said the problems at Boeing suggest significant safety culture defects that will not be turned around quickly.

The probe adds to the litany of issues facing Boeing in the aftermath of a near-catastrophic Alaska Airlines flight in January in which a panel on the fuselage blew out.

The FAA has given the company three months to present a plan to address “systemic quality-control issues.”

Boeing’s management of the 787 came under question at an April 17 Senate hearing at which a company whistleblower testified that he was retaliated against after raising questions about manufacturing processes on the 787 that he believed threaten aircraft safety.

An audit by an FAA advisory panel released in February pointed to significant shortcomings in Boeing’s safety culture, describing a “disconnect” between senior company management and other Boeing employees and skepticism that safety complaints by workers would not result in retaliation.

Industry watchers are waiting for more clues about future leadership of Boeing after Chief Executive Dave Calhoun said he will step down at the end of the year.