All GF B767's indefinitely grounded!!!!!!

[Sinbad1]

Come out clean GF

Quote by the Boss " we have ordered an immediate and thorough check on our B767 fleet, following the detection of minute traces of possible corrosion in an area beneath the rear galley of one aircraft."

What a lot of baloney. (Or as the Americans would say - go and tell it to the marines.) The rear galley and the water/waste system as you see from the drawing below is very close to the Rear Bulk Head and the rear principle structure. It is a major pressurised divider. Corrosion under the toilets and galleys structures is very common. "Minute traces" of corrosion do not ground an aircraft. If this corrosion is just under the wet area then it is not a big deal. But if corrosion has spread beyond the floor structure and spread to the rear frames close to the bulkhead or the area very close to the bulk head then God help you. The repairer will be looking at quite some time before they can get this aircraft back to normal.

The area close to the rear galley is the pressurised bulkhead. Repairs to that area require specialist structural engineering work. For those who go back long enough, remember the Japanese 747 classic which crashed shortly after take off which was due to Boeing mis-calculation on the repair of the rear pressure bulkhead.

What I would like to ask is how an earth could this have possibly been missed during the last C check???? This could only happen if things were signed assuming to be OK. (The "dirty Dozen" rule: I looked there 1000 times and I didn't find anything before".)

I think it is a good thing this is happened to GF and should make them more careful in the future.This will certainly be an eye opener for the future in the way they conduct and supervise their C checks. Lesson for all. Also for the management to come clean and brief their staff and put their worries to bed once and for all.