US FAA opens new probe into Boeing 787 inspections
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The news: The US Federal Aviation Administration has opened a fresh investigation into Boeing after the planemaker disclosed some employees may have falsified some tests on its 787 Dreamliner.
The numbers: The inspection lapses don’t create an immediate flight safety issue, but will disrupt factory operations as Boeing conducts tests on aircraft being assembled, Scott Stocker, who leads the 787 program, told employees in an April 29 memo. Boeing shares fell as much as 2.8% after the news.
The context: The FAA said it is investigating whether Boeing completed the inspections to confirm adequate bonding and grounding where the wings join the fuselage on certain 787 Dreamliner airplanes and "whether company employees may have falsified aircraft records."
The new investigation intensifies scrutiny of the embattled planemaker’s top-selling widebody jet after whistleblowers came forward in recent weeks with concerns about Boeing’s production of the model.
The FAA has already tightened oversight of Boeing’s cash-cow 737 Max assembly lines in response to a January accident in which a fuselage panel blew off a nearly new plane shortly after takeoff.
The agency has imposed a cap on the rate of 737 output and ordered the company to create a comprehensive plan to address its quality shortcomings. The US Justice Department is also conducting a criminal investigation into the January 5 mid-air emergency of a Boeing 737 MAX 9.
