Rebukes Fired Engineer's Claims To Contrary

The 787 is safe... or, at least, as safe as conventional airliners... and Boeing's methods for testing that claim are adequate. That is the summary of the FAA's response to assertions made last month by a former Boeing engineer, who claimed the composite-bodied airliner's structure could splinter and burn in a severe crash, causing passenger fatalities in an accident that could be survivable in an aluminum-bodied plane.

The Seattle Times reports the FAA summarized two criticisms of its certification standards for the 787, in a report published in the Federal Register last week. One was in direct response to claims made by Vince Weldon, a 46-year Boeing employee and manager at the planemaker's Phantom Works unit, claiming the Dreamliner's carbon-fiber shell posed new risks to passengers.

In an 11-page letter to the FAA, Weldon called on the FAA to conduct crashworthiness tests on the 787 directly, instead of supervising Boeing as the planemaker conducted the tests.

"We consider it more effective to establish the standards and encourage (Boeing) to develop the most effective method of compliance," the FAA replied last week.

As ANN reported, Weldon went public with his claims last month -- even appearing on former CBS anchor Dan Rather's show on HDNet, a move some analysts say didn't exactly help his case, given the stigma of the circumstances surrounding the veteran newsman's departure from the Tiffany network.

Also casting doubt on Weldon's claims are the circumstances surrounding the engineer's departure from Boeing. Weldon says he was fired after arguing the 787 needed stiffer tests; the planemaker says the engineer was fired for threatening an African-American supervisor.

Weldon also asked the FAA to consider performing a detailed drop test of a 787 fuselage segment, similar to a test performed in 2000 for the 737NG cert. In that test, a full section -- complete with interior fittings, including storage bins, and instrumented test dummies -- was dropped onto a concrete slab.

Tests conducted for the Dreamliner have, to date, utilized the lower half of a 787 fuselage barrel section. Those tests subjected the partial airframe to slow crushing, as well as ramming with a steel plate.

A third test dropped the 787 fuselage segment onto a steel plate from roughly 15 feet, according to the Times. Boeing states those tests have yielded enough data to validate the planemaker's computer models to simulate crashes... and the FAA apparently agrees.

"While there are merits in conducting a full-scale test, there are other approaches using tests and analysis that can actually yield more data than would a single test," the FAA said regarding current test procedures for the 787.

Barring delays, the first 787-8 is scheduled to enter service with All Nippon Airways in mid-2008.

FMI: www.boeing.com. www.faa.gov, Read The Full Response