Boeing CEO: Poor work caused hole in Southwest jet

[canyonblue]

Boeing CEO: Poor work caused hole in Southwest jet

April 27, 2011 2:26 PM ET
By DAVID KOENIG, JOSHUA FREED

CHICAGO (AP) - The CEO of Boeing Co. says workmanship and not poor design led to a hole ripping open in a plane that the company built for Southwest Airlines Co.

CEO Jim McNerney said Wednesday that signs do not point to a problem affecting large numbers of the Boeing 737.

A Boeing 737 operated by Southwest developed a 5-foot (1.5-meter) rip in the roof while cruising 34,000 feet (more than 10,000 meters) above Arizona on an April 1 flight.

Federal investigators found problems with riveting work done when the plane was built 15 years ago. The National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report this week that holes drilled in the plane's skin were too big for the rivets and were not properly lined up.

Independent experts said such problems would increase stress on the plane's aluminum skin panels, leading to metal fatigue.

McNerney was asked on a conference call Wednesday what the company had learned about the Southwest jet.

"The initial data that I think we're all seeing is suggesting a possible workmanship issue on an airplane rather than a design issue across a fleet of airplanes," McNerney said. He emphasized the word "an" to downplay any suggestion of a wider problem.

After the Southwest incident, Boeing told airlines to immediately inspect nearly 200 other 737s that were built with a similar design to the one that cracked open above Arizona, including about 80 owned by Southwest.
Most of those inspections have been done. Southwest found five other planes with cracks, but no other airlines have discovered problems, according to Boeing and government officials.

McNerney said the findings with the Arizona jet stood out, even from other planes that also had cracks. Boeing has collected pieces of several of the planes, and McNerney said the company's own examination was continuing.
The affected Southwest planes were all built from 1994 to 1996 at the same Boeing factory. Boeing says later models of the 737, starting around 2000, have a different design in which aluminum panels overlap on the roof and should not be prone to the same cracking problem.

 

[Amish RakeFight]

Why weren't signs of metal fatigue found within the variants outside of SWA that had more cycles?

 

[Hair-on-Fire]

guess Boeing should of outsourced it.

 

[Hose A. Jiminez]

Why weren't signs of metal fatigue found within the variants outside of SWA that had more cycles?

Because SWA had all but about 1 or 2 from that production period.

 

[seerickyfly]

Boeing is on the hook for these 737's SWA owns for 2 million plus trade in/off value. They are playing the game saying it was a one time factory problem. We all know its not.

 

[DieselDragRacer]

Boeing is on the hook for these 737's SWA owns for 2 million plus trade in/off value. They are playing the game saying it was a one time factory problem. We all know its not.

It's well documented this went on for years at Boeing and their supplier in KS.

 

[Jetjockey]

Boeing takes the heat for their favorite US Customer. Shocking news.

 

[Amish RakeFight]

Because SWA had all but about 1 or 2 from that production period.

I read somewhere that several dozen of the same variant and time frame were found to have no fatigue issues. These were the same SWA variants albeit at other airlines. Seems to point to something in the SWA magic. Not to mentiom, they've been heavily fined last time it happened. Maybe its just coincidental, huh.

 

[ironspud]

Union labor.

 

[redflyer65]

I read somewhere that several dozen of the same variant and time frame were found to have no fatigue issues. These were the same SWA variants albeit at other airlines. Seems to point to something in the SWA magic. Not to mentiom, they've been heavily fined last time it happened. Maybe its just coincidental, huh.

The exact mx inspections were all done on these planes since day one. Do you really think the records haven't been poured over by the FAA since Yuma happened? They found NO mx discrepancies to date.

What more could have been done by SW?

Just like the Toyota accelerator problem. Did it happen to every single Camry? No.

 

[General Lee]

The exact mx inspections were all done on these planes since day one. Do you really think the records haven't been poured over by the FAA since Yuma happened? They found NO mx discrepancies to date.

What more could have been done by SW?

Just like the Toyota accelerator problem. Did it happen to every single Camry? No.

Yeah, Southwest is PERFECT.......


FAA inspectors: Southwest tried to hide safety problems

April 02, 2008| From Drew Griffin and Scott Bronstein CNN Special Investigations Unit


Southwest Airlines tried to keep serious problems with its maintenance program hidden and pressured the Federal Aviation Administration to keep out an inspector who noticed the problems, according to two FAA inspectors who blew the whistle on the airline
.
Bobby Boutris and Douglas Peters told CNN Wednesday they brought information about Southwest's lack of compliance with mandatory inspection protocols to their supervisors, but the FAA did nothing.
Boutris said the airline tried to have him removed from the inspections.

"My supervisor called me into his office ... and told me he had had a
meeting with the director of quality assurance and the AD [airworthiness directive] compliance leader from Southwest Airlines, and he had requested my removal from the inspection," Boutris said.




Man Red, you must pee Wild Turkey and poo corndogs.....and you thought I was a koolaid drinker......sheesh.



Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[redflyer65]

General,

Does it make you feel like a big man to throw the kitchen sink it when you have nothing constructive to say.

This is what you do day in and day out. Can you ever stay ON topic for one day?

Did your above quote have anything to do with the Yuma incident?

And do you have direct evidence the FAA doesn't that these airframe checks were skipped over? Any actual facts at all?

 

[General Lee]

General,

Does it make you feel like a big man to throw the kitchen sink it when you have nothing constructive to say.

This is what you do day in and day out. Can you ever stay ON topic for one day?

Did your above quote have anything to do with the Yuma incident?

And do you have direct evidence the FAA doesn't that these airframe checks were skipped over? Any actual facts at all?

The article points out nobody is perfect.


Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[redflyer65]

Nice spin buddy, but it doesn't work when you just throw out some generic press release for 2008. Never said we had perfect mx. Just saying to this point, the mandatory checks on the skins of these planes were done.

Do you really think the FAA wouldn't have thrown the red flag on SW by now? Really?

 

[canyonblue]

The article points out nobody is perfect.


Bye Bye---General Lee

You can say that again doughboy..............

Probe of Delta Over Safety Issues Studied

July 15, 1987|ERIC MALNIC | Times Staff Writer

On July 5, a Delta jet with 113 passengers aboard slammed into a van while taxiing up to the terminal at National Airport in Washington. The van was knocked over, but there were no reports of injury. An investigation is continuing.

Missed by 19 Miles
The next day, a Delta flight crew set down their Boeing 737 at Frankfort, Ky., after being cleared by air traffic controllers to land at Lexington, Ky., 19 miles away.

"The pilot stated he was on the ground, but he didn't know where," an FAA spokesman said. Ewing said the crew apparently became disoriented while detouring around some thunderstorms and simply made a mistake. "There's not much we can say," he added. The pilot and the co-pilot of the plane, which was carrying 27 passengers on a flight from Lexington, Ky., were suspended until the investigation is complete.

On July 8, a Delta L-1011 that reportedly was about 60 miles off course in Canadian airspace over the Atlantic narrowly missed a Continental Airlines Boeing 747, according to the Continental crew. The incident was followed by news reports published two days later that the Delta crew had urged the Continental crew via radio not to report the incident.

Tapes from the cockpit voice recorders of both aircraft have been handed over to the Canadian Aviation Safety Board. The Delta crew has been relieved of flight duties pending the outcome of the Canadian investigation.
The Delta plane was carrying 153 passengers on a flight from London to Cincinnati and the Continental plane was carrying 399 passengers on a flight from London to Newark, N.J., when the incident occurred about 31,000 feet over the ocean, investigators said.

The Canadian Safety Board announced Tuesday that a few minutes after the narrow miss with the Continental plane, the Delta L-1011 strayed into the path of a British Airways jet headed from London to Toronto. The board said that instead of maintaining the required 10 miles' separation, the Delta plane closed to within seven miles. That incident, too, remains under investigation.

Company Confident
Ewing said Tuesday that despite the multiple incidents, "We at Delta remain convinced that we are running the safest airline in the business. . . .
"We are proud of our pilots," he said. "We are proud of our maintenance."
According to Helane Becker, an analyst with the Shearson Lehman Brothers investment firm, one of Delta's principal strengths is its "relatively young, modern fleet."

Becker said Delta's planes have an average age of 8.6 years, about half the age of some of the oldest fleets in the industry.

The last major air crash involving a Delta plane occurred Aug. 2, 1985, when one of the fleet's L-1011s crashed while attempting to land at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, killing 127 people. The National Transportation Safety Board blamed the crash on the flight crew's decision to land during a violent, wind-swept thunderstorm.

 

[Flopgut]

They like those www.ranchhand.com bumpers down in Texas. Maybe SWA could get Ranchhand to come up with some diamond plate, bolt on stuff for Boeing weak spots? A Ranchhand radome would look cool!

 

[scoreboardII]

SWA already has that, you have seen some of the "Ironsides" haven't you?

 

[WalterSobchak]

General,

Does it make you feel like a big man to throw the kitchen sink it when you have nothing constructive to say.

You have no idea how much this little thing has enhanced my FI experience:

General Lee
This message is hidden because General Lee is on your ignore list.

 

[Chubaka]

I can see how if your job is to pound rivets into an airplane all day long, day after day, month after month, year after year........ after awhile you just don't care anymore.

 

[waka]

guess Boeing should of outsourced it.

huh? come again?