Originally Posted by
SLF3
Seattle Times says Collins identified 353 actuators with the faulty seal assembly delivered since 2017. But only 9 are in the US, all are with United, and all have been replaced. So that is all right, we can relax.
A lot of readers missed this crucial point in the report. It’s more than 353 actuators. That’s just the number Collins sent to Boeing, and that Boeing delivered on airplanes. And even then, Boeing only knows what the configuration of the airplanes was when they left their factory. Collins also directly shipped defective actuators directly to operators for aftermarket installation—both domestic and foreign. They don’t even know how many of those affected actuators are currently on airplanes, or where they are. From the report:
The NTSB recognizes that the information Boeing provided was preliminary, and while Boeing identified 25 affected actuators delivered on Boeing 737 airplanes [to US operators], there remains uncertainty about how many affected actuators sent directly to operators and installed after delivery are currently on airplanes. As a result, there could be additional Boeing 737 airplanes beyond those 25 delivered by Boeing [to US operators] that have incorrectly assembled bearings in their SVO-730 rudder rollout guidance actuators, and it is essential that this possibility is clearly addressed.