Boeing alert over jet cracks

[Wirraway]

Tues "The Australian"

Boeing alert over jet cracks
By Steve Creedy
June 08, 2004

DAMAGE that grounded two Qantas jumbo jets has prompted an urgent worldwide examination of Boeing aircraft that has so far uncovered similar problems in more than 40 planes.

Experts fear the problem, in which damage caused by metal tools during aircraft repainting can lead to fatigue cracks, may be more widespread than first thought. Qantas grounded the Boeing 747s last year after engineers discovered a potentially devastating 70cm crack in in one aircraft's fuselage during maintenance.

The crack was in a strap used to knit sections of the fuselage together during manufacturing and could have led to a serious structural failure if left unrepaired. Marks on the damaged plane indicated the crack had grown from damage caused by the use of metal tools during repainting by previous owner Malaysia Airlines.

A report on the damage by Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority prompted the US Federal Aviation Administration to issue a global alert.

CASA said similar metal tool marks – known as scribe lines – had now been found worldwide on 32 Boeing 737s, four 747s and and seven 757s.

CASA spokesman Peter Gibson said he could not rule out an FAA airworthiness directive that would make aircraft inspections and urgent repairs mandatory.

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[Kaptin M]

Not really news, Wirraway.
Pilots have long been aware of fatigued cracks - as a result of tools - in and around the front and rear galleys, on occasion! :E

(BTW, you do a GREAT job of bringing aviation-related topics of interest to this forum. Thanks :ok: )

[Buster Hyman]

Well, at least CASA didn't ground the entire fleet!:hmm:

[NAMPS]

Hey Kapt, when you say tools, do you mean the implements that actually cause the damage or the people using them? :}

[Bobster]

The article says they were grounded by QANTAS. Are they still grounded or have they been repaired and returned to service?

An expensive mistake if they are still on the ground.

[TIMMEEEE]

Great to see Steve Creedy from the Australian is as sharp and intuitive as usual.

This story goes back over a year doesnt it??

[Going Boeing]

Bobster

The two aircraft in question were acquired in 1998 from Malaysian Airlines and they were painted in QF colours by Malaysian airlines prior to delivery. The "painters" elected to use their own metallic tools to remove sealant from between fuselage skin panels prior to the repaint instead of the Boeing approved non metallic tool. The skin panels received nicks from the metallic tools and as a result of many pressurisation cycles over subsequent years the nicks became cracks - the longest being 70cm. The aircraft have been repaired and are back in service. QF corporate lawyers were observed in the hangers so I suspect that Malaysian's insurance company will foot the bill which could be very considerable considering all the disruption that the unavailability of these two aircraft caused.

Timmeeee

Steve Creedy is going from strength to strength with his inaccurate reporting and lack of understanding of technical issues. The article that he did on QF B744's doing STAR's and Approaches using CPDLC inferred that the Air Traffic Controllers were landing the aircraft - the guy just has no idea.

[Bobster]

Going Boeing

Thanks for the reply. It would have been nice if QF Engineering got a mention for a repair well done but I suppose devastating cracks and other words are so much better. :rolleyes:

[DomeAir]

Actually, this issue of "scribe marks" may become a lot bigger in the near future...the B737 is apparently under close scrutiny as this type is where most of the affected aircraft have been found. And it's not cheap to fix...several carriers are now choosing to polish their aircraft instead of paint them as it allows easier inspection of the skin/lap joints.

The issue has some potentially huge ramifications and it is only now becoming more public. Of course it could just be a storm in a tea cup...

[prospector]

Kaptin M,
The politically correct policepeople/ persons will be on your case smartly. Fatigued cracks indeed!! Would imagine the tools would suffer from fatigue sooner than the cracks.;)

Prospector