Boeing told the FAA its 767 wing inspections start too late. The FAA said no, blamed the wrong company, and assumed the repairs were done right.
The problem is fatigue cracking in the lower outboard wing skin, at the inboard fastener of stringer L-9.5 and along stringer L-6.5, on aircraft modified with the Aviation Partners winglet kit. The FAA described the potential risk in its own terms: the condition, if not addressed, “could result in failure and subsequent separation of the wing and winglet and consequent reduced controllability of the airplane.” Sounds serious to me, but it’s smaller than I presumed it would be. The recurring inspection runs six work-hours at $85 an hour, or $510 per cycle per airplane, which the FAA totals at $99,450 across the US fleet. This is a less than $100,000 problem but it sounds incredibly concerning.
Then there is Boeing.
A great solo travel tip spotted this week on Live and Let's Fly.
