Boeing’s Dreamliner Factory in South Carolina Hit With Complaints of Bad Safety Practices

https://www.thedailybeast.com/boeing...tices?ref=home

An expose by the New York Times outlines a series of troubling concerns at
Boeing’s South Carolina factory where the 787 Dreamliners are made. The paper
reports that workers have filed “whistle-blower” safety complaints with federal
regulators over “defective manufacturing, debris left on planes and pressure to
not report violations.” Qatar Airways has even stopped taking planes built in
the troubled factory. Some workers who left the plant told regulators that they
refuse to fly on the planes after supervisors told them, “Don’t worry about it.”

Among the claims are the use of faulty parts installed on aircraft. “Tools and
metal shavings have routinely been left inside jets, often near electrical
systems. Aircraft have taken test flights with debris in an engine and a tail,
risking failure,” the Times charges. “Employees have found a ladder and a string
of lights left inside the tails of planes, near the gears of the horizontal
stabilizer.” Speaking to one employee who was fired, such shoddy practices
“could have locked up the gears.” Boeing spokesman Gordon Johndroe, told the
Times, “We prioritize safety and quality over speed, but all three can be
accomplished while still producing one of the safest airplanes flying today.”



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