aviation
American aircraft manufacturer Boeing and its supplier Spirit Aerosystem failed to meet quality control requirements in a number of cases in the production of the 737 Max aircraft. This has emerged from a six-week review, the American aviation regulator FAA reported on Monday.
“The FAA has identified non-compliance issues in manufacturing process control, parts handling and storage, and production control,” the statement said.
The audit followed an incident involving a Boeing 737 Max 9 in January. A door panel came loose on an Alaska Airlines aircraft. The aircraft part is said to have missed four crucial bolts.
After this incident, all 737 Max aircraft in the US were grounded for weeks and subjected to thorough inspections. Loose bolts were found in several aircraft.
“Appropriate measures”
Boeing said on Monday that it has “a good idea of what needs to be done” after the latest FAA investigation. Spirit said in a statement that it is in discussions with Boeing and the FAA about “appropriate corrective actions.” Boeing announced on Friday that it was interested in acquiring Spirit.
The FAA has only made public a summary of the results of the latest research. The full audit will remain secret as long as other investigations are ongoing at Boeing and Spirit following the incident with the Boeing 737 Max earlier this year.
Production and development of the 737 Max aircraft has been halted for the time being, after the FAA concluded in an earlier investigation into the aircraft manufacturer that there were “unacceptable” quality assurance problems in the production chain.