FAA audit of Boeing 737 production found mechanics using hotel cards and dish soap as makeshift tools: report | Top Vip News

US News

By Allie Griffin

The Federal Aviation Administration found dozens of problems throughout the production process of Boeing’s 737 Max plane, including mechanics at one of its key suppliers of a hotel key card and dish soap as makeshift testing tools. compliance, according to a report.

The FAA discovered “unacceptable” quality control issues during an audit of Boeing and supplier Spirit AeroSystems that was initiated after a door plug detached from a 737 Max 9 in the air at 16,000 feet on Jan. 5.

The agency did not make its findings public, but did make a presentation detailing the results. reviewed by the New York Times reveals a worrying and inconsistent manufacturing process.

Boeing failed 33 of 89 product audits (a review of specific aspects on the production line) with a total of 97 counts of alleged non-compliance, auditors found, according to the newspaper.

Spirit AeroSystems, which makes the bodywork for the 737 Max planes, failed seven of 13 product audits conducted by the FAA, the publication reported. One of their failures had to do with the installation of the plane door plug.

Some of the most impressive details of the presentation occurred at the Spirit AeroSytems airframe manufacturing plant in Wichita, Kansas.

FAA auditors saw company mechanics using a hotel key card to check a door seal in one case and witnessed other Spirit mechanics applying Dawn liquid soap to a door seal “as a lubricant in the process.” installation,” the Times reported. .

In the latest incident, mechanics used wet cheesecloth to remove dish soap and clean the door seal. The document detailing the audit findings obtained by the outlet said that instructions provided to mechanics were “vague and unclear about what specifications/actions the mechanic should follow or record.”

A spokesperson for Spirit AeroSystems, whose buyout Boeing is in talks, told the Times that the company is “reviewing all identified nonconformities to take corrective action.”

Boeing did not immediately comment on the audit’s findings, which the FAA has declined to make public because of its ongoing investigation into the door plug incident on the Alaska Airlines flight and Boeing’s response to it.

The company must develop a comprehensive action plan to address “systemic quality control issues” raised by the audit within 90 days.

The National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating the terrifying door panel explosion, and the Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation into Boeing.