US aviation authority finds problems with Boeing’s quality control

In investigating the latest near miss, the US aviation regulator says that Boeing found violations of quality supervision. A supplier also has to take responsibility.

The US aviation regulator FAA has found problems in quality control during investigations into Boeing production following a near miss. The FAA said there were violations of regulations, among other things, in the monitoring of production, the handling of components and product control. The authority is taking a close look at both Boeing and fuselage supplier Spirit Aerosystems.

New Boeing 737-9 Max almost causes disaster at the beginning of January

The review was triggered by the recent dramatic incident involving a virtually new Boeing 737-9 Max in early January. Shortly after take-off, part of the fuselage of the Alaska Airlines plane with more than 170 people on board broke out while climbing. No one was seriously injured in the incident – as it happened, the two seats directly at the opening were empty.

The accident investigation authority NTSB assumes that fastening bolts were missing from the part. Boeing had previously had to stop deliveries of the aircraft type for weeks and carry out months of rework due to Spirit’s production defects.

Billion-dollar P-8 aircraft sale from Boeing

A contract was signed to supply 14 P-8A Poseidon to the Royal Canadian Forces and 3 more P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft to the German Navy. With this contract signed on March 1, P-8 Poseidon manufacturer Boeing will receive a payment of 3.4 billion dollars.

According to the news by Naval News; In November 2023, Canada announced that its current fleet of CP-140 Auroras would be replaced by P-8A Poseidon aircraft. Under this agreement, deliveries to Canada will begin in 2026. Following the contract, Philip June, Vice President and Program Manager of the P-8A program, made the following statements in his press release:

“We are proud to welcome Canada to the list of international P-8 partners and to welcome Germany to add the P-8 to its fleet of maritime patrol aircraft. “With more than 600,000 flight hours, Poseidon is a proven aircraft that will serve Canada and Germany well in today’s challenging security environment and for decades to come.”

Canada’s consortium called Team Poseidon; CAE consists of GE Aviation Canada, IMP Aerospace & Defense, KF Aerospace, Honeywell Aerospace Canada, Raytheon Canada and StandardAero. Leveraging the expertise of more than 550 suppliers spread across the United States, 81 of whom are Canadian, the initiative underscores Boeing’s significant economic contribution to Canada by supporting more than 14,000 jobs across the country.

In June 2021, the first delivery of 5 P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft was made to Germany. With this agreement, 3 P-8s will be added to the German Navy inventory and will replace the P-3 Orion fleet. In this context, the first delivery will be made in 2025.

Boeing is in Germany to fulfill the duties of the German Navy; It had partnered with ESG Elektroniksystem-und Logistik-GmbH and Lufthansa Technik to provide system integration, training, support and sustainability studies that will ensure high operational functionality.

P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft; It is in the inventory of nine countries, including the United States, Australia, India, United Kingdom, Norway, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Germany and Canada.