Boeing has suspended flight tests of its new 777X wide-body jet after a part connecting the engine to the body of the aircraft failed, a new concern for the American planemaker after a series of malfunctions on its planes.
“During a maintenance operation, we identified that a component had not behaved as expected,” the aircraft manufacturer explained to AFP on Tuesday, confirming information from the specialist website The Air Current.
Boeing teams are currently studying this element “and will resume test flights when ready,” according to the company.
The incriminated part, which Boeing says will be replaced, concerns the 777-9 model and connects the engine to the structure of the aircraft.
The three other 777-9s that are being used for testing have been undergoing inspections since the incident, according to the planemaker.
The 777X wide-body aircraft program, presented in November 2013, is the latest addition to the 777 family. It comes in three versions, the 777-8, 777-9 and 777-8 freighter.
It has already sold more than 500 copies but has still not entered commercial exploitation.
This twin-aisle aircraft is intended to be the largest operational twin-engine jet in the world.
The 777X was originally scheduled to enter service in 2020, but due to problems during the certification process, it has now been pushed back to 2025. It has still not received the green light from the US civil aviation regulator (FAA).
After having previously carried out numerous test flights, Boeing obtained permission to start testing the 777-9 in July with FAA representatives on board, an important step.
Incidents
Boeing’s new boss, Kelly Ortberg, 64, succeeded Dave Calhoun on August 8, who had been in office since early 2020 and whose departure was announced at the end of March following a series of quality problems in production.
Mr Ortberg acknowledged that there was “a lot” to do to restore confidence in the aircraft manufacturer, but was optimistic about the future.
He chose to settle in Seattle (northwest), the birthplace of Boeing, where the assembly lines for the 737 and 777 are located in particular – “a step in the right direction” according to the IAM-District 751 union, which represents more than 30,000 employees in the region.
In the second quarter, the aircraft manufacturer reported a net loss of $1.44 billion, wider than analysts’ forecasts, due to lower deliveries in its commercial aviation division and losses on contracts in its defense division.
Since then, however, the company has been able to congratulate itself on the rebound in its orders.
Boeing announced in July that it had recorded 72 orders (gross and net), including 57 examples of the 737 MAX, its flagship aircraft, in the wake of the Farnborough Air Show in the United Kingdom.
Israeli airline El Al has finalized an order for up to 31 737 MAX aircraft, Boeing revealed Thursday.
The aircraft manufacturer has significantly reduced its production rate following an in-flight incident on January 5, 2024 on an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9, when a door plug — a cover blocking a redundant emergency exit — came loose, leaving a gaping hole in the fuselage and causing several minor injuries.
The FAA has, among other things, frozen production of the 737 at the end of 2023 level (38 per month).
On Monday, the FAA also announced that pilot seats on hundreds of Boeing 787s would have to be inspected, following an incident in March on a flight by Chilean airline Latam, during which the plane suddenly lost altitude, injuring about 50 passengers.