Boeing knew of flaw in part linked to UPS plane crash, NTSB report says
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Re: Boeing knew of flaw in part linked to UPS plane crash, NTSB report says
#2Re: Boeing knew of flaw in part linked to UPS plane crash, NTSB report says
#3Every five years feels too infrequent. These are planes that are 30 years old and have done 100,000 hours of flying. Apparently UPS policy is to keep them around for about 35 years to maximize the ROI. But maybe once they hit a particular age they need to be inspected deeply every few months.
I am not an expert, however. Can metal fatigue be detected with such infrequent inspection?
Re: Boeing knew of flaw in part linked to UPS plane crash, NTSB report says
#4I’m guessing that manufacturers know of lots of flaws in the parts they make.
Re: Boeing knew of flaw in part linked to UPS plane crash, NTSB report says
#5I recall a lot of fingerpointing minutes after the crash by people blaming the presumably foreign maintenance crew.
Even now there is a lot of uncertainty around this crash, maintenance - or lack thereof - or even wrong maintenance could still be a factor. But given the location of the part asking for a 'visual inspection' is a pretty strange move, the part is all but inaccessible when it is in its normal position and even with an endoscope it would be pretty hard to determine whether or not the part had weakened. That's just not going to show up visually until it is way too late unless the part has been especially prepared to announce the presence of hairline cracks.
You'd have to disassemble a good chunk of the wing to gain access to the part based on the pictures I've seen of how it all holds together when assembled.
Re: Boeing knew of flaw in part linked to UPS plane crash, NTSB report says
#6Isn't it a mostly Boeing project that is going to go around the moon next month? I'm really afraid for that crew.
Re: Boeing knew of flaw in part linked to UPS plane crash, NTSB report says
#7Every five years feels too infrequent. These are planes that are 30 years old and have done 100,000 hours of flying. Apparently UPS policy is to keep them around for about 35 years to maximize the ROI. But maybe once they hit a particular age they need to be inspected deeply every few months. I am not an expert, however. Can metal fatigue be detected with such infrequent inspection?
Sounds like it is included as part of standardized airplane checks based on age of aircraft + hours flown.
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_maintenance_checks#AB...
On things like D check, the aircraft is essentially completely taken apart and inspected at that level typically taking 50,000 man hours and 6 month-1 year of time.
Re: Boeing knew of flaw in part linked to UPS plane crash, NTSB report says
#8The headline is missing an important bit.
Boeing knew of the flaw, and sent a letter to airlines about it. In 2011.
Re: Boeing knew of flaw in part linked to UPS plane crash, NTSB report says
#9The headline is missing an important bit. Boeing knew of the flaw, and sent a letter to airlines about it. In 2011.
Well yes but Boeing also said it "would not result in a safety of flight condition."
There's a lot of gray going on here.
Re: Boeing knew of flaw in part linked to UPS plane crash, NTSB report says
#10The headline is missing an important bit. Boeing knew of the flaw, and sent a letter to airlines about it. In 2011.
Well yes but Boeing also said it "would not result in a safety of flight condition." There's a lot of gray going on here.
Yeah saved boeing losing face and sales by requiring all the planes be grounded and fixed. Just eye it up every 5 years, if you want to.