Boeing (BOE, Washington National) has temporarily halted deliveries of B787s to address documentation issues relating to the nose of the fuselage, but which do not pose an immediate safety concern, nor are they expected to impact the delivery schedule for the year, the company confirmed to ch-aviation.
"In reviewing certification records, Boeing discovered an analysis error by our supplier related to the 787 forward pressure bulkhead. We notified the FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] and have paused 787 deliveries while we complete the required analysis and documentation.
"There is no immediate safety of flight concern for the in-service fleet. Production continues, and this is not expected to increase airplane rework. We are communicating with our customers and will continue to follow the lead of the FAA. While near-term deliveries will be impacted, at this time, we do not anticipate a change to our production and delivery outlook for the year," Boeing said in a statement shared with ch-aviation. Technically, what Boeing paused last week was airplane ticketing by the FAA. The manufacturer did deliver a B787-10 to United Airlines on February 27, but this aircraft was ticketed before the delivery pause, so it was eligible for delivery, ch-aviation was told.
"We are aware that Boeing has halted deliveries on the 787," Spirit AeroSystems said in a statement on February 24. "We have provided all of the information that Boeing requested on the 787 over the last two years. Based on the information we currently have and our interactions with Boeing to date, we believe it is too early to assert there was an "analysis error" by Spirit. We will continue working with Boeing to better understand the specific issue and work cooperatively with them in order to resume 787 deliveries," it stated.
The FAA confirmed that "Boeing temporarily halted deliveries of 787 Dreamliners after notifying the FAA that it is conducting additional analysis on a fuselage component. Deliveries will not resume until the FAA is satisfied that the issue has been addressed. The FAA is working with Boeing to determine any actions that might be required for recently delivered airplanes," the regulator said in a statement shared with ch-aviation.
Spirit AeroSystems delivers a fully-integrated fuselage structure for the B787. The composite forward fuselage and engine pylons are built in Wichita, Kansas, and the wing fixed leading edge, and wing movable leading edge are built in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Subang, Malaysia. Spirit has been delivering these assemblies and components on the B787 since 2007, the company said.
Problems with a previous version of the forward pressure bulkhead resulted in a delivery halt during 2021/22. It is the replacement for that component that is being reevaluated now, though reportedly, the current issue is unrelated to the earlier one, said American Machinist.
According to the latest order book, Boeing has logged 1,615 orders for the B787. As of December 2022, the company has 575 total unfulfilled orders of B787s and a backlog of 516 of the family.
