Boeing confirms it has uncovered another 787 production issue that this time involves improperly torqued structural fasteners on an undisclosed number of undelivered Dreamliners.
The issue, reported by Reuters on 13 June, has prompted Boeing to begin inspecting some undelivered 787s but has not forced it to pause deliveries of the widebody jets, the manufacturer said on 14 June.
“Our 787 team is checking fasteners in the side-of-body area of some undelivered 787 Dreamliner airplanes to ensure they meet our engineering specifications,” Boeing says. “The in-service fleet can continue to safely operate.”
The problem follows news last week that the Federal Aviation Administration had launched an investigation into claims that Boeing workers had logged some 787 inspections related to bonding and grounding as completed despite those inspections having not been done.
“As part of our quality management system, we found that some fasteners common to side-of-body longerons and straps were torqued incorrectly,” Boeing says of the latest issue.
It is not more specific. But longerons are structural elements that run the length of the fuselage. Boeing has previously said it uses “straps” to secure fuselage barrel sections to each other, though whether the miss-torque issue relates to those straps remains unclear.
The company is now conducting a review to determine “whether any rework is necessary for all airplanes in our inventory”.
“There may be limited to no impact on deliveries,” it adds. “Deliveries of new 787s have not been paused.”
Reuters’ reported that the issue involves incorrect torquing of 900 fasteners per aircraft.
The FAA did not respond to a request for comment from FlightGlobal. The agency told Reuters it is investigating.
