Spirit Aero made blowout part but Boeing has key role -sources By Reuters

<p> <br />
</p>
<div>
<div>
<u/><span>2/2</span><br />
<img decoding="async" src="https://i-invdn-com.investing.com/trkd-images/LYNXMPEK06010_L.jpg" alt="Spirit Aero made blowout part but Boeing has key role -sources" id="carouselImage" style="visibility:hidden" /><br />
<span>© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A Boeing 737 MAX-10 lands over the Spirit AeroSystems logo during a flying display at the 54th International Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Airport near Paris, France, June 22, 2023. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo</span><br />
<i class="imgGrad"/><br />
<span>2/2</span><u/>
</div>
<p>By Valerie Insinna, Tim Hepher and David Shepardson</p>
<p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) &#8211; Aerospace supplier Spirit AeroSystems (NYSE:) manufactured and initially installed the fuselage part on a brand-new Boeing (NYSE:) 737 Max 9 jet that suffered a blowout on Friday, but Boeing also has a key role in the usual completion process, sources told Reuters.</p>
<p>Because of a complex, two-tier installation process, investigators are expected to examine whether any flaws occurred at Spirit&#8217;s giant fuselage plant in Wichita, Kansas, or at the Boeing factory outside Seattle, the sources said.</p>
<p>Regulators on Saturday grounded most Boeing 737 MAX 9s for safety checks after the eight-week-old Alaska Airlines plane, carrying 171 passengers and six crew, lost a door-replacement panel during a U.S. flight, before landing safely with a gaping hole in its side on Friday night.</p>
<p>The 737 MAX 9, currently Boeing&#8217;s largest single-aisle, seating up to 220 people, includes an optional extra door to allow for the approved number of evacuation paths whenever carriers opt to install the maximum number of seats.</p>
<p>But most airlines using the jet have chosen a looser layout based on a smaller number of seats and do not need the surplus door, which adds weight and reduces flexibility in the cabin. Instead the door is deactivated before delivery, using a &#8220;plug.&#8221;</p>
<p>Other optional doors or fill-in replacement structures were also offered on a predecessor model, the 737-900ER.</p>
<p>As part of the production process, Spirit builds fuselages for 737s and sends them by train with the special door assembly “semi-rigged,” one of the people said. </p>
<p>“They are fitted but not completed,&#8221; the person said.</p>
<p>At its Renton, Washington, plant, Boeing typically removes the pop-out, or non-functioning, door and uses the gap to load interiors. Then, the part is put back and the installation in completed. Finally, the hull is pressurized to 150% to make sure everything is working correctly, the person said.</p>
<p>The process means that finding out where any flaw was introduced during assembly may not be clear-cut, said the sources, who asked not to be named as details of the probe are confidential.</p>
<p>Door plugs have been used to adapt aircraft and offer flexible layouts across the industry for years. </p>
<p>The investigation will include structural experts to see whether design or manufacturing played a role in the accident.</p>
<p>&#8220;The assumption is that it was installed or rigged incorrectly,” one of the sources said.</p>
<p>Boeing and Spirit declined comment on industrial processes. </p>
</div>
<p><br />
<br /><a href="https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/spirit-aero-made-blowout-part-but-boeing-has-key-role-sources-3268596">Source link </a></p><p>The post <a href="https://forextraderhub.com/spirit-aero-made-blowout-part-but-boeing-has-key-role-sources-by-reuters.html">Spirit Aero made blowout part but Boeing has key role -sources By Reuters</a> first appeared on <a href="https://forextraderhub.com">Forex Trader Hub</a>.</p>