Originally Posted by
Thrust Augmentation
Can anyone give a right / wrong on the following;
The NG's additional MTOW & service ceiling over the NG were approved on the basis of high accuracy automated production techniques being used for key structural components, which assured finer tolerances?
Ducommun were found to be hand crafting the critical structural parts?
Several hundred NG's had rolled from the production line before Ducommun's practices were highlighted?
Nobody can categorically answer that kind of question, and those who do know, probably don't hang around on this forum, or have signed non-disclosure agreements.
A simplistic answer to your question, is by asking more questions:
How many B737 NGs suffered structural failure and fell out of the sky? None.
How many B737 NGs were flown into the ground by various accidents? Several.
A list of all accidents on Wikipedia provides some context:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_accidents_and_incidents_involving_the_Boeing_737#737 _Next_Generation_(737-600/-700/-800/-900)_aircraft
For most passengers, structural failure inflight should be the least of their concerns, with takeoff and landings being far more risky. This is nothing like the Comet airliner, where they really did fall out of the sky, due to a design flaw and metal fatigue...