The US Federal Aviation Agency, the FAA, had announced the inspection of a number of Boeing 737 NG, the predecessor of the 737 MAX, after the discovery of “structural cracks” in a model in China.
Disappointments are the order of the day with the American manufacturer Boeing. Boeing acknowledged on Thursday 31 October that during a worldwide inspection cracks in about 50 737 NG models were discovered. In particular, Australian airline Qantas announced that it had suspended flights of a Boeing 737 NG due to a structural crack and that it was inspecting 32 other aircraft as a matter of urgency. In South Korea, authorities reported that nine aircraft were grounded at the beginning of October, five of which were operated by Korean Air.
The US Federal Aviation Agency, the FAA, announced in early October that it had ordered an inspection of a number of Boeing 737 NG planes, the predecessor of the 737 MAX following the discovery of “structural cracks” over an aircraft in China. They were located on the Pickle forks, the part of the plane which connects the wings with the fuselage and manages stresses and aerodynamic forces, said Boeing.
A Boeing spokesperson said on Thursday that at this stage about 1,000 aircraft around the world had been inspected and that less than 5% had to be grounded for repair. The FAA ordered an inspection of the 737 NG’s that flew more than 30,000 times. But Qantas said on Thursday that it discovered cracks in an aircraft that made fewer than 27,000 flights. Qantas’ announcement raised concerns that cracks could also occur in newer aircraft, leading to calls for the grounding of the entire fleet of 737 aircrafts.
Boeing’s damaged reputation
“These aircraft must remain safely on the ground until the urgent inspections have been completed”, says Steve Purvinas, representative of the engineering union, in a statement. Qantas, in turn, rejected the call to immobilize the entire fleet of 737s as “totally irresponsible”. “We only use an aircraft if it offers all the safety guarantees,” says Chris Snook, the company’s chief engineer. Even if there is a crack, it does not automatically endanger the safety of the aircraft. “Stephen Fankhauser, aviation expert at Swinburne University of Technology, agreed, explaining that the parts in question were constructed so that “the structure could withstand some degree of damage or degradation.
Grounding the fleet of the older 737 models will add to the woes of Boeing which is still trying to take care of the 737-max scandal. In recent months, two 737 MAX accidents have claimed the lives of 346 people in Indonesia and Ethiopia and have drawn attention to failures in the MCAS, a software program designed to enhance the pitch stability, particularly in the event of speed loss. The 737 MAX has not been in operation for seven months.
Boeing’s boss, Dennis Muilenburg, was rounded up by U.S. senators during a five-hour Congressional hearing on Tuesday, October 29. Visibly moved, sometimes on the brink of tears, he clearly admitted his responsibility in the 737 MAX’s accidents of Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines.
