(Reuters) - The Federal Aviation Administration said on Monday it has opened an investigation into the Boeing 787 Dreamliner to see whether some employees committed "misconduct" by claiming certain tests that were not performed had been completed.
WHAT'S HAPPENING?
The U.S. FAA has opened another investigation into Boeing, which was already facing probes related to a Jan. 5 panel blowout on a 737 MAX. The FAA wants to know if Boeing completed inspections to confirm adequate bonding and electrical grounding where wings join the fuselage on certain 787 Dreamliner airplanes at its factory in South Carolina.
HOW DID THIS COME ABOUT?
Boeing informed the FAA that an employee at the South Carolina plant found irregularities in a 787 test - and said in an email from a company vice president that the planemaker "learned that several people had been violating company policies by not performing a required test, but recording the work as having been completed."
IS THIS THE FIRST TIME AN ISSUE INVOLVING PAPERWORK HAS EMERGED AT BOEING?
No. Investigators looking at the Jan. 5 737 MAX blowout have not turned up specific documentation related to the production of the aircraft in question as well. In that incident, a door plug was removed to address manufacturing problems, but when the panel was reinstalled, four bolts needed to hold the door in place were missing. Boeing so far has not produced any paperwork that shows whether this step took place or not, and has said it believes required documents detailing the removal of the bolts were never created. Missing or falsifying documentation is seen by experts as an egregious problem in aerospace where regulators require meticulous production records.
WILL THIS NEWEST INVESTIGATION AFFECT PLANE PRODUCTION OR EXISTING PLANES?
It is possible. The FAA said on Monday that Boeing is "reinspecting all 787 airplanes still within the production system and must also create a plan to address the in-service fleet." Boeing currently produces fewer than five 787 planes per month. The company in April had said it was already dealing with a slower rate of production due to parts shortages.
WILL ANYONE BE HELD RESPONSIBLE?
Boeing has said it is taking "swift and serious corrective action with multiple employees," but it is not clear how the planemaker will fully respond to this issue. The company's safety culture has been under scrutiny by lawmakers and regulators after the Jan. 5 blowout that has damaged the aerospace giant's reputation.
In April, Sam Salehpour, a current engineer at the company, said Boeing's manufacturing practices are inadequately addressing safety concerns.
Boeing was not immediately available for comment.
(Reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal and David Shepardson in Washington; Writing by David Gaffen; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
