The FAA has opened a new investigation into Boeing after the company voluntarily informed the organization that it may not have completed required inspections to confirm adequate bonding and grounding where the wings join the fuselage on certain 787 Dreamliner airplane.
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed to FOX Business in a statement that they are investigating whether Boeing completed the inspections and whether company employees falsified aircraft records.
“As the investigation continues, the FAA will take any necessary action – as always – to ensure the safety of the flying public,” the FAA said.
The Wall Street Journal was first to report on the new investigation.
The FAA added that at the same time, Boeing is also reinspecting all 787 airplanes still within the production system and must also create a plan to address the in-service fleet.
The investigation comes after several mishaps involving Boeing aircrafts over the past few months.
Fox News has tracked at least four incidents with Boeing aircraft in January, two in February and as many as 10 as of mid-March.
Since then, a wave of issues has continued to plague Boeing.
In late April, Southwest Airlines announced that the carrier is pulling out of several airports as it contends with financial fallout from Boeing delays.
Southwest is the latest carrier to face setbacks due to Boeing. In early March, United Airlines announced it was temporarily pausing pilot hiring due to new aircraft certification and manufacturing delays at Boeing. It also recently asked pilots to take unpaid time off as delays persist.
The FAA ramped up oversight of Boeing and its supplier Spirit AeroSystems in recent months, which included halting production expansion of the Max after a door plug blew out mid-flight on one of Alaska Airlines’ Max 9 jets in early January.
United Airlines also released its first quarter earnings, which indicated that it lost about $200 million due to the temporary grounding of the Boeing 737 Max 9 earlier this year.
United is one of two U.S. carriers that operate the Boeing 737 Max 9, with the other being Alaska Airlines.
A whistleblower with more than 40 years of engineering experience told members of the Senate that Boeing is putting out defective airplanes in testimony during a hearing in late April.
Sam Salehpour, an engineer at Boeing, told lawmakers that the company is cutting corners in assembling its 787 and 777 jets and claimed his supervisors have retaliated against him for blowing the whistle.
Salehpour has claimed that Boeing failed to adequately shim, or use a thin piece of material to fill tiny gaps in a manufactured product, an omission that could cause premature fatigue failure over time in some areas of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
In his testimony, Salehpour also stated that he raised safety concerns with Boeing over the course of three years but had been ignored. He described retaliation by his supervisors, including being transferred out of the 787 program into the 777 program and even alleged physical threats made against him.
Boeing previously told FOX Business that the “claims about the structural integrity of the 787 are inaccurate” and that the “issues raised have been subject to rigorous engineering examination under the FAA oversight.”
