FAA investigates after Boeing says South Carolina workers falsified 787 inspection records

SEATTLE (AP) — The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it had opened an investigation into Boeing after the troubled company reported that workers at a South Carolina factory falsified inspection records for some 787 planes. Boeing said its engineers determined that misconduct did not create “an immediate flight safety concern.”

In an April 29 email to Boeing employees in South Carolina, Scott Stocker, who runs the 787 program, said a worker observed an “irregularity” in a required test of the wing-body junction and reported it to his manager.

“After receiving the report, we quickly looked into the matter and learned that several individuals had violated company policies by not performing a required test but recording the work as completed,” Stocker wrote.

Boeing has notified the FAA and is taking “prompt and serious corrective action with several teammates,” Stocker said.

No planes have been taken out of service, but having to conduct testing on planes out of order will slow delivery of planes still under construction at the final assembly plant in North Charleston, South Carolina.

Boeing also must create a plan to deal with planes already flying, the FAA said.

The 787 is a twin-aisle aircraft that debuted in 2011 and is primarily used for long international flights.

“The company voluntarily informed us in April that it may not have performed required inspections to confirm adequate bonding and grounding where the wings join the fuselage on certain 787 Dreamliner aircraft.” , the agency said in a written statement. “The FAA is investigating whether Boeing performed the inspections and whether company employees may have falsified the plane’s records.”

The company has been under intense pressure since a door plug blew off a Boeing 737 Max during an Alaska Airlines flight in January, leaving a gaping hole in the plane. The accident halted the progress Boeing appeared to be making as it recovered from two fatal Max plane crashes in 2018 and 2019.

The accidents in Indonesia and Ethiopia, which left 346 dead, are also back in the spotlight. Families of some of the victims pushed the Justice Department to revive a criminal fraud charge against the company by determining that Boeing’s continued failures violated the terms of a 2021 deferred prosecution agreement.

In April, a Boeing whistleblower, Sam Salehpour, told a congressional hearing that the company took manufacturing shortcuts to produce 787s as quickly as possible; his allegations were not directly related to those disclosed by the company to the FAA last month. The company rejected Salehpour’s claims.

In his email, Stocker praised the worker who came forward to report what he saw: “I wanted to personally thank and congratulate this teammate for doing the right thing. It’s essential that each of us speak up when we see something that doesn’t seem right or needs attention.