Don't Want To Work At Southwest Or Alaska If The Following Is True

[DeucesWild]

I would hate to be working somewhere with a single fleet type of Boeing 737 if the following 'Boeing Whistle Blower' story gains any traction.

The story is lengthy and disturbing.

http://www.airlinepilotupdate.com/video/

 

[ngsp]

produced by aljazerra tv. enough said.

 

[jonjuan]

Attention Herb: 6 Dozen Papa Johns Supremes to the FAA, stat!

 

[DeucesWild]

produced by aljazerra tv. enough said.

I agree, and almost didn't post for that very reason. But the documentary does quote fired Boeing employees and current FAA officials, and includes video and testimony of parts being produced by hand that were supposed to be produced by high precision CNC machines.

Does the fact that the parts were produced by hand make them unsafe? Probably not... that is how they were produced prior to CNC machines. But I don't know if the engineering for those structures was dependent on the higher tolerance and precise fit. Maybe, maybe not.

But if you pay an outside vendor for a precision high tolerance part, then that is what you should get.

I doubt the structure is compromised or is unsafe, I just would be worried about the public perception if this story does gain national coverage, which I hope it does not.

 

[DieselDragRacer]

Trace and cut parts by hand? Hell, if it's that easy I might just build my own 73.

 

[sstearns2]

The 737 was designed and built in the pre comuter era and most airplane parts are pretty low tolerance compared to a lot of things like the parts in a DVD player for instance. If a part meets the spec, it meets the spec. I don't know how many good machinsts are still around, but they're as a good as a CNC machine, just not as fast and can't work 24 hours a day. I sure Boeing still has some sh*t hot 'by hand' machinsts.

Cheers,
Scott

 

[DieselDragRacer]

The 737 was designed and built in the pre comuter era and most airplane parts are pretty low tolerance compared to a lot of things like the parts in a DVD player for instance. If a part meets the spec, it meets the spec. I don't know how many good machinsts are still around, but they're as a good as a CNC machine, just not as fast and can't work 24 hours a day. I sure Boeing still has some sh*t hot 'by hand' machinsts.

Cheers,
Scott

Boeing probably does. Too bad the parts in question were made by a 3rd party supplier.

 

[DieselDragRacer]

When you consider .Gov let Wall St and the banks police themselves and do whatever they wanted, it isn't too hard to believe a company as big and powerful as Boeing would be corrupt too. Lets just hope we don't find out the hard way.

 

[roughneck]

The vendors were approved by the FAA. If Boeing did their part and signed contracts with vendors approved by the FAA the 3rd party and the FAA will be on the hook. If they ground the fleet, SWA will just bill Obama for his mistakes until the situation is resolved.

The most successful airline in the history of aviation, SWA, not to mention the airline that carriers the most domestic passengers isn't going to be shut down because of a government screw up. If there is any truth to the report, there will be some witness protection program activity and the whole issue will go away.

 

[DieselDragRacer]

The 2 whistle blowers who worked at Boeing lost their jobs because the Justice Dept leaked their names.

The the FAA's Chief Scientific Advisor signed a statement giving Boeing a clean bill of health, yet under sworn deposition admitted the statement was written by Boeing's own attorney (44 min in).

It's a bit odd 3-8 year old NG's overran runways in 2009 and all 3 broke into 3 pieces in the same places where said chop shop made parts.