By Timothy Bragg
Published 2, July 2019
The US Boeing 737 MAX is in turmoil and has recently discovered “potential conditions.” The Federal Aviation Administration issued a statement on Sunday that Boeing’s parts of more than 300 737 MAX and Next-Generation 737 aircraft may have manufacturing defects requiring Boeing to replace these parts within 10 days.
According to the statement, according to Boeing, some of the leading-edge slat tracks used on the Boeing 737 MAX and the Boeing Next-Generation 737 “may have manufacturing defects that cannot meet the strength and durability requirements of existing regulations.”
A joint investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Boeing found that there were 148 problem parts that could be manufactured by a sub-supplier. There may be 179 737 MAX and 133 Next-Generation 737 (737 NG) in the world, including 33 737 MAXs and 32 Next-Generation 737s in the US. The new generation 737 is the third generation of the 737 series, which began production in 1997.
The statement also stated that the problematic component “may be subject to premature failure or cracking due to improper manufacturing”, although the leading edge slat guide completely fails “may not cause the aircraft to crash”, but “the presence of the aircraft is subject to flight The risk of damage”.
Boeing also announced on the same day that a certain batch of leading edge slat rails may not be qualified, but has not received any reports reflecting problems associated with the aircraft. Twenty-six 737 MAX and 21 new-generation 737s are most likely to have problematic parts installed. For the sake of the accident, it is recommended that the airlines additionally check 159 737 MAX and 112 next-generation 737s. Once the problem component is found, be sure to replace it before the aircraft is re-applied.
“We are committed to supporting our customers in a variety of possible ways to identify and replace these potentially unacceptable parts,” said Macalister, President and CEO of Boeing Commercial Aircraft Group.
The Federal Aviation Administration said that they have reminded international civil aviation agencies to take note of this situation and take necessary actions, and will issue an airworthiness directive requiring Boeing to replace the problematic parts, and the affected airlines must complete the replacement within 10 days.
Boeing said that they are preparing replacement parts for customers, and the replacement work is expected to take one to two days.
The leading edge slat is a long winglet mounted on the front end of the wing to increase the critical angle of attack and increase lift. Both the FAA and Boeing have not been “named” to the supplier of leading edge slat rails.
Boeing has not received any problems with the use of these leading edge slat rails. Boeing is currently sending replacement parts to customers to minimize aircraft downtime after replacement work is completed. (-:
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