Boeing, new flop: 'fractures on pylons holding engines'. Stop testing, all 777-9s grounded
Here we go again. Boeing and its customer companies, just a few weeks ago, had cheered the news that the Boeing 777X had [...]
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Here we go again. Boeing and its customer companies, just a few weeks ago, had cheered the news that the Boeing 777X had begun its official test program., those with Federal Aviation Administration pilots on board that then lead to certification of an airplane. Hopes of seeing the first airplane delivery by the end of 2025 had been reinvigorated.
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And here, instead, from the west coast of the U.S. comes the news that. the entire fleet of B777-9s that are performing the 'official' tests have been grounded. 'Grounded,' wanting to use a word that in Boeing's parts is now like a specter always around the corner.
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The decision was made by the FAA after some fractures were detected by its inspectors at the end of a flight that one of the 777s had made last Friday between Everett, in Washington State where the U.S. manufacturer is historically based, and Kona, on Hawaii's "Big Island.
A flight of about 5 1/2 hours: routine, for a 'monster' like Boeing's latest, which will be able to fly about 15 hours nonstop. Fractures were found on one of the two 'pylons' supporting the 777-9's engine, the General Electric GE9X which, we recall, Is the largest and heaviest ever mounted on a commercial aircraft. In addition, as the two websites The Current and View from the Wing report, Unspecified 'problems' were reportedly found on the engine mounts of two additional 777-9s.
It is clear how it is not possible at the moment to know how long the grounding of the fleet will last and, therefore, to what extent this umpteenth stop will affect the test program and the delivery date of the first aircraft.
But for the American manufacturer. this is yet another embarrassment and yet another flop on the security front, after the endless chain of problems and accidents involving the 737 MAX and 787 in recent years.
The latest generation 777 program is years overdue. The first orders date as far back as the first half of the last decade and the aircraft, after the Flight christening in January 2020, should have been delivered to customers as early as 2021. Instead, an initial postponement to 2022 was followed by others, to the point that today the most likely date of commissioning is early 2026.
More than 500 777-Xs have since been ordered, of which about 400 777-9s, 43 777-8s (which has a longer fuselage and longer flight range) and 55-8 Freighters, the cargo version. The most important customer is Emirates, which ordered a total of 205, including 170 -9 and 35 -8.
Customers include the world's major companies, including precisely the following Emirates, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, British Airways, Korean Air but, significantly, no U.S. company has ordered the aircraft, preferring the 787 or aircraft made by Airbus.