Over the past two months, passengers traveling aboard Boeing aircrafts have endured a sudden, injury-inducing nose-dive, a mid-air wheel detachment, and an emergency door plug horrifyingly blasting open during a flight. Now, new details emerging from a Federal Aviation Administration audit of the world’s second largest commercial aircraft manufacturer may run deeper than previously thought.
The six-week audit into Boeing and its 737 Max body supplier Spirit AeroSystems found “dozens” of quality control problems at production facilities, according to a slide presentation reviewed by The New York Times. In one case, mechanics working for Spirit were even observed using Dawn dish soap on a door seal in place of lubricant. The seal was then reportedly cleaned up with a “wet cheesecloth.” In another instance, Spirit mechanics were reportedly found using a hotel key card to check a door seal, which isn’t standard practice.
Overall, out of 89 product audits, Boeing managed to pass just 56 of them while failing 33, according to the report. Many of the problems at the Boeing facility, according to the slide presentation seen by the Times, involved the company not following “approved manufacturing process, procedure or instruction.” Others reportedly dealt with a lack of proper quality control documentation. Spirit received failing grades on seven audits and passing grades on six. At Boeing, six engineers averaged a poor score of just 58% on a test reportedly analyzing how well they understood their company’s quality-control processes.
FAA audit comes on the heels of multiple high-profile safety incidents
Boeing has received steady international attention for months following a spate of safety incidents, some of which have resulted in serious injuries. Just last week, a Boeing plane heading to Japan from San Francisco was diverted after a wheel reportedly detached from the jet mid-flight and landed in a parking lot, leaving…
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