According to recent reports, debris has been discovered in the fuel tanks of Boeing planes, causing Boeing to order inspections of its entire fleet of grounded 737 Max planes thereafter.
Debris in the fuel tanks of the aircrafts is a major setback for the US plane-maker.
The specialist aviation blog Leeham News, which first reported the discovery of the “foreign object debris” (FOD), said it was unlikely that the inspections would delay the recertification of the jets. However, it will take up to three days to inspect each plane because fuel must be drained and vapours dissipated before the fuel tanks can be opened.
General Manager of the 737 programme,Mark Jenks, said in a memo to employees that the debris was “absolutely unacceptable” and that the company was taking steps to address the problem in its production system.
“During these challenging times, our customers and the flying public are counting on us to do our best work each and every day,” Jenks said, adding: “One escape is one too many.”
Debris was discovered during routine inspections at Boeing facilities in Washington state and Texas where the Max jets are being stored. The company has not disclosed how many planes were affected.
The company has had recent issues with debris – including tools and rags – found in its 787 Dreamliners and KC-46A military refueling tankers. Those issues have led to two suspensions of deliveries of KC-46As to the US air force.
In a recent event last year, fatal crash of a Boeing 737 Max resulted in the grounding of the model’s entire global fleet and the company is racing to recertify with regulators that the planes can fly safely.
Boeing built about 400 of the planes, which it could not deliver to customers, and its orders have suffered after it was forced to cut back production at its factory near Seattle. Foreign object debris, an industrial term for rags, tools, metal shavings and other materials left behind by workers during the production process, can raise the risk of electrical short-circuiting and fires.
An FAA spokesman said the agency knows that Boeing is conducting a voluntary inspection of undelivered Max planes. He said the FAA “increased its surveillance based on initial inspection reports and will take further action based on the findings”.
or the past 11 months, Boeing has been seeking to fix anti-stall software known as the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS). In both fatal crashes the system forced the nose of the aircraft down despite the pilots’ efforts to overcome it.
The planemaker is currently testing the updated software for the Boeing 737 Max, but the plane is not expected to be back in service until mid- 2020 at the earliest.
