Boeing Faces Dreamliner Setback

Despite the hype surrounding Boeing’s development of its 787 Dreamliner, a lighter and more fuel-efficient plane than other airliners, the company has had plenty of trouble getting the jet into the hands of the airlines. Boeing confirmed Friday that it was forced to halt production of certain fuselage sections for the jet in June after discovering wrinkles on the carbon composite skin.

The parts have been manufactured by an Italian company called Alenia Aeronautica, one that has had significant amounts of experience in producing composite materials. For this reason, industry experts have raised questions whether or not the problem was caused by sheer accident or by general sloppiness on the part of Alenia Aeronautics.

The announcement of this most recent problem, though, came the same day that Boeing announced an indefinite delay of the 787’s first flight due to another structural flaw. According to a Boeing spokesperson, the wrinkling on the carbon composite had already been fixed by applying a patch. It went unannounced because Boeing did not expect the problem to have any impact on the 787’s overall cost or production schedule.

Boeing 787 Dreamliner (Image: Flickr)