- Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems said it was being innovative in using soap as a lubricant.
- Besides the soap, FAA auditors say they saw Spirit mechanics use a hotel key card to check a door seal.
- Spirit said both practices had been approved by Boeing and the FAA.
A Boeing supplier said he tried using other household products like petroleum jelly and cornstarch as lubricants before deciding to use Dawn liquid soap, the New York Times reported Thursday.
In March, the Times reported that Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) auditors saw Spirit AeroSystems mechanics applying soap to a door seal.
The mechanics were also seen using a hotel key card to check the seal on a door, according to an audit report obtained by The Times.
“People look at the hotel key card or Dawn soap and think it’s sloppy. It’s actually an innovative approach to finding effective shopping help,” the spokesperson said. words of Spirit, Joe Buccino, to the Times.
According to Buccino, Spirit also tried using other household products such as petroleum jelly, cornstarch and talcum powder as lubricants before settling on Dawn liquid soap.
Buccino said Dawn soap became their first choice because it didn’t cause the door seal to degrade over time.
Spirit told the Times that Boeing approved both practices. The company added that the soap and key card-like device were documented for use under FAA standards as factory tools, also known as shop aids.
The company’s chief technology officer, Sean Black, told the Times that Spirit invented the key card-like device after seeing employees use a hotel’s key card to check for gaps.
“Our workers regularly find creative ways to make the fuselage building process more efficient. In this case, workers created the Door Seal Tool, which allows our teams to test door seals without any risk of damage. degradation of the seal over time,” Black said. told the outlet.
A Boeing spokesperson confirmed to the Times that it had indeed approved Spirit’s use of the soap and a key card-like device, while an FAA representative declined the company’s request for comment. Times.
The audit, the FAA said, was part of its ongoing investigation into Boeing after a door plug on an Alaska Airlines flight exploded in January while the plane was still in the air.
The controversy surrounding Spirit’s unorthodox engineering practices comes amid increased scrutiny over the quality of Boeing’s planes. The aircraft manufacturer is in the spotlight following repeated failures in quality assurance.
The chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said during a Senate hearing Wednesday that she plans to question every Boeing employee about the company’s safety culture.
“I don’t think there’s anyone at Boeing, since Dave Calhoun, who doesn’t want to know what happened. They want to know, they want to fix it, and we’re here to help them.” , said Jennifer, head of the NTSB. Homendy said.
Representatives for Boeing, Spirit and the FAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside of normal business hours.
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