Some non-specialist media could be forgiven for thinking that, had Boeing decided the fly the 787 on schedule rather than wait for structural modifications, it risked having the wings fall off its first Dreamliner.

But the reality is that talk by aeronautical engineers of "narrowing of flight envelopes" or "structural modifications" is not unheard of during aircraft development. However, that Boeing has reached such a late stage in the programme before making this discovery has sent out shockwaves. Not only because of the nature of problem and the length of delay it threatens, but that such a serious flaw could lie undetected for so long.

Equally alarming is how Boeing senior executives have been repeatedly caught out by looming setbacks. Two years ago, Commercial Airplanes boss Scott Carson rebuffed suggestions that the delivery schedule to a newly announced customer was subject to any "health warnings" - only to announce within months that all 787 deliveries faced a roughly two-year delay.

view from the 787 cockpit slide 
© Boeing
How long until Shanahan's 787 take-off slide is a reality?

And at the Paris air show just days before the latest delay was announced, Carson and his colleague Pat Shanahan looked the media straight in the eye and said ship one (ZA001) would fly before June was out.

To whet our appetite Shanahan showed a slide of the ZA001's cockpit, with Everett's Paine Field runway super­imposed through the windscreen. "This is to give you a feel of what chief pilot Mike Carriker will see when he takes off from Paine Field this month," he said.

But back in Seattle a big question mark was hanging over the schedule. By the end of the Paris show week Boeing realised it couldn't bluff its way through another sham media event like the "7/8/07" roll-out, and decided to postpone the flight pending modifications.

Boeing deserves applause for respecting the engineering process. But it should be less self-congratulatory for deciding to abandon the sham first flight and remember that having marketing, rather than engineering, drive the programme sparked the problems two years ago.

This was supposed to be Boeing's week, its chance to have the world's stage to itself. Instead, we are left wondering whether we can ever trust anything Boeing says. Last-minute 180° turns do not inspire confidence.

Source: Flight International

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