Southwest Flight 812

[WorldTraveler]

Word on the steet is that the next aircraft SW buys will be Airbus.

WN will be smart to push Boeing hard on whatever it can get as a result of the blackeye that WN will receive as a result of this latest maintenance issue... my bet is that Boeing will do whatever it can to make WN happy but Southwest is also looking for the best possible airplane and Boeing has to deliver that plus deal w/ the ramifications of problems on its current products.
If Boeing fails to completely satisfy WN, let alone lose them, it will go down as one of the biggest blunders of corporate history. No one has been as loyal to a supplier as WN has to Boeing - and airlines around the world have ordered 737s based on WN's loyalty and its stated connection of its highly successful business model to the 737.

 

[SharoninSAT]

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Investigators focus on rivet fittings...

Updated at 12:16 AM Saturday Apr 23, 2011

SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (KGO) -- Investigators have pinpointed the defect that caused a hole in a Southwest Airlines jet earlier this month. Passengers saw the sky when the 737 tore open in midair and today's findings are raising new concerns.

Investigators believe the problems may have started 15 years ago on an assembly line, where rivets were created incorrectly.

ABC News has learned investigators are focusing their attention on rivets -- those tiny pins that hold pieces of a plane together. Sources say on the Southwest 737 that ripped open the rivets holding parts of the plane's fuselage together, failed because they didn't fit perfectly. The rivet holes themselves may have been sized incorrectly back on the assembly line.

"They would over time with the flexing and expansion and contraction of pressurizing the plane's fuselage when it takes flight, those holes will microscopically expand or change," said ABC7 aviation consultant Ron Wilson.

And in this plane's case the seam tore creating a gapping five-foot hole. Oxygen masks dropped and the pilot quickly dove to a lower altitude.

As a result, Boeing ordered inspections of similar 737s worldwide -- nearly 600 total. A third required inspections immediately and of those, five have slight cracks. All are Southwest jets and sources say all five were built around the same time as the plane that came apart.

"The cracks are along this joint here where the two pieces lap," said Wilson. "That crack will become worse and worse with every pressurization."

The investigation is still going on. In fact the plane that ripped has been patched and is expected to go back in service.

 

[tech2101]

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Investigators focus on rivet fittings...

Sounds strange. Unless the machine that drilled the lap joint holes was loaded with the wrong size drill, or the machine loaded with wrong rivet, this would be a huge problem.

I am not sure, but I think those skins are pre-fab by machine, then installed on the frame by hand.

I will have to ask my Boeing friends to comment on this latest article.

 

[SharoninSAT]

Sounds strange. Unless the machine that drilled the lap joint holes was loaded with the wrong size drill, or the machine loaded with wrong rivet, this would be a huge problem.

I am not sure, but I think those skins are pre-fab by machine, then installed on the frame by hand.

I will have to ask my Boeing friends to comment on this latest article.

WSJ article

The officials said it's too early to draw definitive conclusions, and National Transportation Safety Board investigators haven't issued any statements hinting at what they suspect. But areas that federal and industry experts are examining as part of the probe, according to these officials, include riveting techniques, fixtures used to hold parts of the planes during assembly and uses of sealants on the 15-year-old Boeing 737.

 

[chris perry]

Outsourcing
Many components are not built by Boeing but are outsourced to other manufacturers both in the US and increasingly around the world. This may be either for cost savings in production, specialist development or as an incentive for that country to buy other Boeing products. Here is a list of some of the outsourced components:

Fuselage, engine nacelles and pylons - Spirit AeroSystems (formerly Boeing), Wichita.
Slats and flaps - Spirit AeroSystems (formerly Boeing), Tulsa.
Doors - Vought, Stuart, FL.
Spoilers - Goodrich, Charlotte, NC.
Vertical fin - Xi'an Aircraft Industry, China.
Horizontal stabiliser - Korea Aerospace Industries.
Ailerons - Asian Composites Manufacturing, Malaysia.
Rudder - Bombardier, Belfast.
Tail section (aluminium extrusions for) - Alcoa / Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing, China.
Main landing gear doors - Aerospace Industrial Development Corp, Taiwan.
Inboard Flap - Mitsubishi, Japan.
Elevator - Fuji, Japan.
Winglets - Kawasaki, Japan.
Fwd entry door & Overwing exits - Chengdu Aircraft, China.
Wing-to-body fairing panels and tail cone - BHA Aero Composite Parts Co. Ltd, China

 

[BoeingBoy]

Oops, should have read a little further - already covered.

Jim

 

[Bob Owens]

Outsourcing
Many components are not built by Boeing but are outsourced to other manufacturers both in the US and increasingly around the world. This may be either for cost savings in production, specialist development or as an incentive for that country to buy other Boeing products. Here is a list of some of the outsourced components:

Fuselage, engine nacelles and pylons - Spirit AeroSystems (formerly Boeing), Wichita.

From the ATA website;

Probe of 737 jet finds misaligned rivets
The National Transportation Safety Board has updated its investigation into the fuselage rupture of a Southwest Airlines jet, noting that misaligned rivet holes and loose rivets likely played a part. Boeing, which manufactured the jet, said "we remain fully engaged with the investigation and will work closely with both the NTSB and the [Federal Aviation Administration] to ensure the highest level of safety."

 

[SharoninSAT]

NTSB blames bad workmanship for roof hole on Southwest Airlines jet

http://aviationblog....lines-jet.html/

 

[SharoninSAT]

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NTSB Aircraft Accident Brief

http://www.ntsb.gov/...ry/AAB1302.html