The Federal Aviation Administration plans to order airlines to inspect Boeing 787s because the jets might have defective seat-track hardware due to manufacturing errors.
The agency disclosed the quality concern in a proposed rule released on 15 January, saying it received “multiple supplier notices of escapement” about the issue.
Those reports indicate “that seat track splice fittings were possibly manufactured with an incorrect titanium alloy material”, the proposed rule says.
If finalised, the order would affect 37 US-registered 787s, including -8, -9 and -10 variants.
Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The FAA’s proposed rule says defective seat-track fittings “were possibly” manufactured using “Grade 1 or 2 commercially pure unalloyed titanium, which has significantly reduced strength, fatigue and damage-tolerance properties compared to the type design Grade 5” alloy approved for use by the FAA.
The result could be “failure of the seat-track split fittings”, including when subjected to “emergency landing loads”, potentially injuring passengers, the FAA says.
It notes that Boeing responded to the concern by issuing an Alert Requirements Bulletin to operators on 18 October last year. That bulletin calls for airlines to inspect 787 seat-track splice fittings using X-ray fluorescent-spectrometer or high-frequency eddy current techniques, “to determine the material”. Airlines are to replace any defective fittings found.
The FAA’s proposed order would mandate those actions.
