“The plane maker has told U.S. aviation regulators that it produced certain parts at its South Carolina facilities that failed to meet its own design and manufacturing standards, according to an Aug. 31 internal Federal Aviation Administration memo reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.”
The Wall Street Journal — Monday September 7 2020
September 8 2020 — New Evidence and Logic have led me to rewrite 30 years of History. In my book [Lockerbie — Three Decades of Lies: J’Accuse…!] I conclude that Pan Am Flight 103 disintegrated in flight over Lockerbie (December 21 1988) because of a massive structural failure due to well-known issues of metal fatigue in section 41 and 42 of the Boeing 747 (Series 100 & 200), not because of an explosive device. As a result of my research, I expected that the FAA would investigate similar Boeing manufacturing flaws as new generations of Boeing airliners may have inherited a mild form of that disease. It is happening. Coincidence? Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY
RELATED POST: Lockerbie – Three Decades of Lies: J’Accuse…! [Chapter XI : J’Accuse!]
Lockerbie — Three Decades of Lies: J’Accuse…!
QUICK NOTES — To make it easier for the readers to retrieve various chapters of this book, I have created a special page “Lockerbie” where all the links to the chapters will be listed with a brief description. You can access that page directly as it appears at the far right of the top bar of this blog. END of NOTES
Lockerbie — Three Decades of Lies: J’Accuse…!
“We immediately contacted the airlines that operate the eight affected planes to notify them of the situation, and the airplanes have been temporarily removed from service until they can be repaired. The rest of the in-service fleet has been determined to meet limit load capability, and we are inspecting production airplanes to ensure any issues are addressed prior to delivery.”
Boeing — Monday September 7 2020
UPDATE VI (February 21 2021) — A Boeing 777-200 rained debris on Denver suburbs after it suffered a catastrophic engine failure shortly after take-off on Saturday.
The plane suffered an uncontained and catastrophic engine failure. The incident happened shortly after 13:00 local time (20:00 GMT).
Former NTSB Chairman Jim Hall called the incident another example of “cracks in our culture in aviation safety (that) need to be addressed”.
Hall, who was on the board from 1994 to 2001, has criticized the FAA over the past decades.
Peter Goelz, a former managing director of the NTSB, told CNN an old saying:
‘The first piece off the aircraft indicates where the accident occurred.”
Did you know that Pan Am 103 lost its first piece several seconds before the alleged bomb destroyed the airliner over Lockerbie?
This event recorded by two radar stations was quietly brushed under the carpet by the AAIB investigators.
RELATED POST: Lockerbie — Three Decades of Lies: J’Accuse…! [Chapter X : What Really Happened to Pan Am Flight 103?]
On July 24 2018, the UK National Archives released files from the Prime Minister’s Office and Cabinet Office predominantly covering the year of 1993. A Lockerbie file dated 1992-93 was however withheld.
Two years before, on November 2 2016, the UK Government [Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS)] decided to withhold all Lockerbie air accident investigation reports [dating from 1990 Jan 01 to 1992 Dec 31] until at least 2026, and possibly indefinitely. Why on earth?
Why on earth would the UK Government decide to withhold these technical reports if they did not reveal foul play or gross incompetence?
If ever released, these reports will show that the AAIB investigators knew all along that there was no bomb on Pan Am Flight 103, and that they knew the real cause of the tragedy long before the crash even happened.
END of UPDATE
“There’s an old saying that the first piece off the aircraft indicates where the accident occurred. So they’re going to be looking at the beginning of the debris field to see what pieces came off this engine first and what they look like. The NTSB will find the wreckage, they will analyze it, and this one, they’ll figure out what happened.”
Peter Goelz — Former managing director of the NTSB
UPDATE (February 20 2021) — After an explosion in one of the engines, a Boeing 747-412 of Longtail Aviation [Bermuda] has lost several engine parts over Maastricht, in The Netherlands.
A few cars were damaged. The aircraft [Flight number LGT5504] had departed from Maastricht Aachen Airport. The plane landed safely at Liège airport, Belgium.
I am quite sure that if this accident had occurred on one of the first Boeing 747, the plane would have broken apart around section 41/42. Just like Pan Am 103, TWA 800 or Air India 182…
UPDATE (January 28 2021) – The 737 MAX has already been cleared to resume flights in North America and Brazil, and is expected to gain approval in Europe this week.
Ed Pierson — a former senior manager at Boeing’s 737 plant in Seattle — claims that further investigation of electrical issues and production quality problems at the 737 factory is badly needed.
In his new report, Mr Pierson claims that regulators and investigators have largely ignored factors, which he believes, may have played a direct role in the accidents.
Mr. Pierson believes that both of the crashed aircraft suffered from production defects, almost from the moment they entered service.
“The possibility of production defects playing a role in the accidents has not been addressed by regulators. This could lead to further tragedies, involving the Max or even a previous version of the 737.”
The FAA — of course — insists it only approved the return to service of the Max, following a “comprehensive and methodical safety review process”.
The BBC quickly found a former senior inspector with the UK’s Air Accident Investigations Branch (AAIB) willing to dismiss Mr Pierson’s allegations…
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the BBC article is the author, Theo Leggett.
Previously Legget had suggested strongly that the crashes of the both 737 Max planes had been caused by incompetent pilots.
His only evidence for this was statements by a congressman who was paid by Boeing.
Let me repeat this once again. The FAA and AAIB inspectors are crooks. They could not care less about your safety. They work for Boeing.
On November 2 2016, the UK Government [Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS)] decided to withhold all Lockerbie air accident investigation reports [dating from 1990 Jan 01 to 1992 Dec 31] until at least 2026, and possibly indefinitely.
Pan Am Flight 103 disintegrated in flight over Lockerbie on December 21 1988 — not December 22 — because of a massive structural failure due to well-known issues of metal fatigue in section 41 and 42 of the Boeing 747, not because of an explosive device.
Why do you think the Lockerbie AAIB reports are still classified more than three decades after the tragedy?
Why were those technical reports ever classified in the first place?
END of UPDATE
“Ed Pierson’s report is very disturbing, about manufacturing issues in the Boeing factories that go well beyond just the Max, and also affect… the previous version of the 737. Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) must finally become more transparent, and begin to provide information and data, so that independent experts can determine the worthiness of the work that’s been done.”
Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger
September 8 2020 — The US aviation authority is investigating manufacturing flaws in the Boeing 787 after the company reported that certain plane parts did not conform to its production standards.
According to an internal Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) memo seen by the Wall Street Journal, the regulator could be looking at quality control errors that may have potentially lasted for 10 years.
Boeing identified two issues with the manufacture of the join in a portion of the fuselage in some 787s that, in combination, result in a condition that does not meet their own design standards.
Two issues?
Some airplanes have shims that are not the proper size, and some airplanes have areas that do not meet skin flatness specifications.
“Individually these issues, while not up to specifications, still meet limit load conditions.
When combined in the same location however, they result in a condition that does not meet limit load requirements.” [Boeing]
Which portion of the fuselage?
The problem could possibly occur either at the forward or the rear fuselage. [See picture]
However, since the problem results partly from shims produced by Boeing, the issue is more likely to affect the rear fuselage.
Why now?
Boeing identified the suspect shims — produced at the North Charleston facility — in August 2019.
Why was the FAA and the airlines only informed last month?
If the FAA launches a full airworthiness directive it could cover about 900 jets.
Such a directive would force airlines operating the B787 Dreamliner to ground the jet and install fixes on the planes. The cost would be enormous.
UPDATE I (September 12 2020) — A few details regarding the FAA investigation are emerging and it does not look good…
First, as I suggested in my first post, the issues are indeed about he aft fuselage of the Boeing 787, and the assembly of the Section 47/48.
“Boeing is confident the population is limited to the eight affected aircraft with the combination of both the shimming and skin surface smoothness problems in the jet’s aft fuselage, first reported by TAC.
The two issues together undermine the structural integrity of the 787’s aft fuselage join, making it unable to withstand the limit load or maximum forces the airplane could experience in service, according to a Boeing engineering analysis.”
Seattle radio station KOMO reported on Thursday (Sept 10) that a US FAA document flagged that shims – material used to close gaps that can occur during production – were discarded before final fasteners were installed on the section. That left improper gaps in the tail sections of potentially hundreds of airplanes.
On Tuesday (Sept. 8 2020), in a short statement, Boeing also acknowledged a third additional quality issue on the 787 related to the jet’s horizontal stabilizer.
“Boeing is also studying whether almost 900 horizontal stabilisers made at its Utah fabrication plant have gaps that could cause premature ageing in the small wing in the Dreamliner’s tail.
Boeing identified that problem in February and notified the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Repairs typically take four to 10 days.”
Then, on September 11 2020, BLOOMBERG revealed that Boeing was working with United States regulators to address yet another — FOURTH — production flaw in the same section.
This latest fault, involving a slight depression near where the plane’s vertical fin joins its fuselage, came to light in late 2019, the Chicago-based manufacturer said in an e-mailed statement.
Meanwhile….
Headline Publishing Group will publish a memoir by Cliff Todd, the former head of the Forensics Explosive Laboratory.
“Non-fiction publisher Iain MacGregor acquired UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) from Mark Lucas at the Soho Agency.
Explosive: Catching the Bombers will examine the cases Todd dealt with throughout his career, including the device concealed in a radio cassette player that brought down Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie (…)
Todd will walk readers through the investigations step by step, explaining the science, the forensic work and the emotional toll on him and his family life.”
Obviously, my research has rattled some nerves… I can tell you that it will be fun to expose the frauds of that book.
In fact, I believe that it will achieve just the opposite the author intends to achieve.
I predict no one, but complete idiots, will still believe the story of the “Lockerbie bomb” after reading this idiotic fiction. Stay tuned!
PS — Would you like to buy your own 747? At more than $400m a piece, a nearly new Boeing 747 is out of reach for most and owning one is something the majority could only dream of.
Well, now is your chance! Iran Air is selling two 747 [one 747-100 (EP-IAM) for £19,200 and one 747-200 (EP-IAG) for £16,000]
UPDATE II (September 16 2020) — The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s 250-page final report released today (Wednesday September 16 2020) is devastating for the reputation of both Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The report said the FAA “failed to ensure the safety of the traveling public.”
“Boeing failed in its design and development of the MAX, and the FAA failed in its oversight of Boeing and its certification of the aircraft,” the report says, detailing a litany of problems in the plane’s design and the government’s approval of the plane.
The review found the crashes “were not the result of a singular failure, technical mistake, or mismanaged event.”
“They were the horrific culmination of a series of faulty technical assumptions by Boeing’s engineers, a lack of transparency on the part of Boeing’s management, and grossly insufficient oversight by the FAA — the pernicious result of regulatory capture on the part of the FAA.” (…)
Lawmakers have proposed numerous reforms to restructure how the FAA oversees airplane certification. A Senate committee will take up a reform bill Wednesday.
Lawmakers suggested Boeing was motivated to cut costs and move quickly to get the 737 MAX to market.
“This is a tragedy that never should have happened,” House Transportation Committee chairman Peter DeFazio told reporters.
“We’re going to take steps in our legislation to see that it never happens again as we reform the system.”
Please compare these conclusions with what I wrote in the final chapter of my book on Lockerbie.
All those involved in this Machiavellian cover-up should be prosecuted for the role they have played in this sordid affair.
If the truth about the Pan Am Flight 103 had been told, the passengers of TWA 800 would not have met an early and tragic death.
If the truth about Air India 182 had been told, there would have been no Lockerbie disaster.
Three decades later, the same corrupt relation between Boeing and the FAA has once again killed (346) innocent people. [Lion Air Flight 610 on October 29, 2018 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 on March 10, 2019.]
And once again, despite the evidence that Boeing lied to the FAA about the 737 MAX, no one is facing criminal charges. When will this stop?
Truth is the daughter of time, not authority. One day, probably long after my time, every sentence I wrote will eventually be officially confirmed. Truth never dies.
UPDATE III (January 9 2021) — A Boeing jet carrying 62 people lost contact with air traffic controllers Saturday in Indonesia after rapidly losing altitude, with debris believed to be from the plane spotted in the Java Sea.
Sriwijaya Air flight 182, operated with a Boeing 737-500, took off from Jakarta at about 1:56 p.m. local time and lost contact with the control tower at 2:40 p.m.
Once again, the aircraft was an old plane — 27 years old — and it was originally flown by carriers in the United States.
There is no way this murder should have happened. This is why I blog about Lockerbie.
And this is why I hate Lockerbie conspiracy theorists.
If the truth had been told about Lockerbie, none of this nonsense would be happening.
Those who have invented and propagated fake News about Lockerbie to protect Boeing should be prosecuted for crimes against humanity.
END of UPDATE
REFERENCES
FAA investigating Boeing 787 manufacturing flaws — NST
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Lockerbie — FAA investigating Boeing 787 manufacturing flaws. Coincidence?
Lockerbie — FAA investigating Boeing 787 manufacturing flaws. Coincidence? [UPDATE]
Lockerbie — FAA investigating Boeing 787 manufacturing flaws. Coincidence? [UPDATE II]
Lockerbie — FAA investigating Boeing 787 manufacturing flaws. Coincidence? [UPDATE III — And one more BOEING goes down. How many more?]
Lockerbie — FAA investigating Boeing 787 manufacturing flaws. Coincidence? [UPDATE IV : Further tragedies to be expected.]
Lockerbie — FAA investigating Boeing 787 manufacturing flaws. Coincidence? [UPDATE V : Boeing 747 Loses several engine parts over Maastricht]
Lockerbie — FAA investigating Boeing 787 manufacturing flaws. Coincidence? [UPDATE VI : Boeing Going Oink Oink! (Second plane lost engine on Saturday)]
Intel Today 