Pollyannuh
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10/31/2005 06:48 PM
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Report Copyright Violation | Frequent Flyer? Read this. Boeing Whistleblowers Say Planes Must Be Grounded [ link to www.motherjones.com] SNIP
Boeing Whistleblowers Say Planes Must Be Grounded
The Federal Aviation Administration Takes Another Look
Sheila Kaplan
October 25 , 2005
Second in a series of articles
The first signs that The Boeing Company was installing defective airplane parts made by Ducommun Inc. came back in 1994, when assembly line workers at Boeing’s Wichita plant were caught performing an unapproved installation technique known as “bash to fit.”
“Boeing assembly personnel were witnessed improperly redrilling the holes in the bear strap or forcing the parts into position for fastening to the aircraft,” whistleblowers allege in a federal suit against Boeing and Ducommun. Such practices are considered dangerous, as they may pre-stress a part, making it more likely to break during flight and cause a crash.
In 1998, Boeing asked Jeannine Prewitt, an auditor with the company, to investigate the source of the parts problem. In a series of investigations at Ducommun between 1998 and 2000, she and her colleagues discovered, according to their complaint, a pattern of fraud and misconduct, lack of quality control and serious defects in components that are considered critical to flight safety.
In their lawsuit, the whistleblowers charge that 32 Boeing airplanes sold to the U.S. government, mostly for military use, had dangerously defective parts and should be grounded. Mother Jones’ own investigation shows that at least 1,600 Boeing commercial jets made between 1994 and 2001—many still flying—could have the same problems as those on the military jets.
Since the case was unsealed in May, evidence introduced in federal district court in Wichita lends credibility to the whistleblowers’ case that others at Boeing, besides themselves, were concerned that installation of Ducommun parts could compromise safety. Among the key documents is a memo, called a “supplier evaluation report," written September 29, 1999, by Boeing official Salvatore Cerchio.
In the report, Cerchio describes the problem with the bear straps, which are doublers, or reinforcements, used to support doorways, and says he is suspending Ducommun’s authority to inspect its own products.
“Bear straps shipped into Boeing have been found to have a[n] edge trim undersized condition...which may cause the complete lot to be deemed scrap and cause line stoppage at Boeing...,” Cerchio wrote. He also noted other airplane parts that were bent, missing holes, incorrectly marked and otherwise irregular. Cerchio’s move would have had strong financial repercussions for Boeing, which would then have to send its own field inspectors to examine all Ducommun parts before accepting them. Prewitt and the other whistleblowers, Taylor Smith and James Ailes, say that as it became clear that Ducommun’s quality control problems reflected badly on Boeing and could be costly to fix, supervisors toned down their reports. Words like fraud were changed to “misrepresented processes,” they allege, mention of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) violations were stricken from the record, and the group was told not to mention violations during presentations to other Boeing employees.
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Anonymous Coward
User ID: 15444
 United Kingdom
10/31/2005 06:50 PM
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Report Copyright Violation | Re: Frequent Flyer? Read this. Boeing Whistleblowers Say Planes Must Be Grounded wanna apologise to you polly, may disagree but do love u in a way. sorry for all my crap 4017. |
Pollyannuh
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User ID: 104
United States
10/31/2005 07:03 PM
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Report Copyright Violation | Re: Frequent Flyer? Read this. Boeing Whistleblowers Say Planes Must Be Grounded No need to apologize, A.C. 4084.  |
