Former Dreamliner Safety Engineer: I don't feel safe flying on the 787

[jacko45k]

Boeing have got left behind in commercial design and the Dreamliner is not match for the long established Airbus range.

The A380 is a wonderful aircraft. It will take Boeing decades to catch up.

Well not financially citing that example!

[EnglishJohn]

'No revision control on some manufacturing planning documents'.

I worked in an aircraft software development team and people who would be in a position to shout about things like that have absolutely zero impact on any of the system development or it's ultimate safety. They are there for ticks in boxes at audits.

Definitely a disgruntled employee who Aljazeera have delighted in blowing out of all proportion to discredit the USA. He is an insult to real whistle-blowers who have the courage to stand up for what they think is right.

“Definitely a disgruntled employee who Aljazeera have delighted in blowing out of all proportion to discredit the USA”

oh really ?

In 2007 the US journalist and broadcaster Dan Rather Reports produced a documentary entitled “ Plastic Planes “

Top former and current Boeing engineers believe the new 787 Dreamliner should not be certified to fly since it was built primarily out of high tech plastics called composites.

http://www.amazon.com/Dan-Rather-Reports-231-Plastic/dp/B0018C6TQ8%3FSubscriptionId%3DAKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q%26tag%3Dduckduckgo-d-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB0018C6TQ8

Yes, and aliens live amongst us : I saw a video about that too. Plus there are huge cities underground in the USA which nobody knows about (except, presumably, the millions living in them).

Luckily for the rest of us, the development of civilian aircraft is very carefully controlled by a system of certification based on science. The problem with all of those DVD's is that the journalist sets out to make one specific point so ignores any facts which don't agree with his goal. All the conspiracy theorists lap it up ... especially if it involves the USA.

[cheshiremusicman]

Boeing have got left behind in commercial design and the Dreamliner is not match for the long established Airbus range.

The A380 is a wonderful aircraft. It will take Boeing decades to catch up.

I'll take the A380 any day - love flying on this.

[Chicog]

Has anybody that criticizes Aljazeera news ever watched if for more than 30 seconds or do they just spout the

FOX news party line. I have only watched the English version as I do not understand Arabic, but the English channel

provides excellent balanced coverage of world stories that are may not be covered by CNN or BBC which I also

consider excellent. All this said I think both Air Bus and Boeing are excellent reputable companies who both set the

gold standard in aircraft design and manufacture. I feel 100% safe when flying on both companies equipment and

I make flight choices based on cost and logistics. All this said I find it hard to believe that a company with Boeing's

reputation would suppress/cover-up any design/manufacturing flaws. The cost of an accident in lives, money and

reputation are just too big if they are found to be at fault for a design/manufacturing flaw accident Only time will tell but from

what I have read you have one guy who yes helped put a man on the moon using a slide rule who believes aluminium

is the only way to go, and this guy who has OCD and maybe thinks nothing is ever good enough. Just my two cents.

I have made thousands of flights and will hopefully make a few hundred more and I look forward to a flight on the Dreamliner.

I've done a few flights on the 787 and I have to say it is a very smooth ride.

On one flight I was so engrossed in my book I didn't even notice that we went from taxiing to airborne!

[Asiantravel]

Whether or not you believe in what any of the whistleblowers have said since 2006 what sticks out like a sore thumb to me is the role of the person from the FAA. Bearing in mind the FAA’s job is meant to be to regulate air safety , when it comes to building aeroplanes the FAA delegates oversight almost completely to the aircraft manufacturer. This makes absolutely no sense at all to me. I mean, it's no good them saying after an air disaster, we were wrong perhaps we shouldn't have given the manufacturers so much freedom.

Ali Bahrami, head of the Renton-based FAA certification office was the FAA man in charge of the Dreamliner in 2011 and it was he who signed off on the certification of the plane. After the problems with the batteries it was Ali Bahrami who also signed it back into the air.

Very shortly after all this Ali Bahrami retired from the FAA and just two weeks later he was hired as vice president of the Aerospace Industries Association, which lobbies on behalf of Boeing.

One of the first things he did was to appear before the US Congress to call for even greater self regulation for companies like Boeing.

Edited November 20, 2014 by Asiantravel

[Trouble]

Boeing have got left behind in commercial design and the Dreamliner is not match for the long established Airbus range.

The A380 is a wonderful aircraft. It will take Boeing decades to catch up.

I don't see the A380 as being such a wonderful aircraft. Just bigger bus. Takes longer to load the plane and longer to get off. In addition you have 500 passengers going thru immigration at once. Thanks but the 777 or 747 still works fine for me.

[natway09]

uel1968, totally uncalled for. Stop Thai Bashing

[Phil Water]

For those who have not endured a flight in a Dreamliner it has hard seats.

I recently had the most uncomfortable journey in one from Ghuangzhou China to Bangkok. It was as bad as a similar trip,I endured from Mumbai to BKK on a 737. I am a regular sized bloke but the seat configuration and hardness made the three hour trip excruciating.

Give me an Airbus any day. I am not a. Thai Airways fan but I love their comfy roomy Airbus's on internal flights.

Boeing and airbus do not manufacture or market any of the seats in their planes. Seats and other interior features including entertainment systems are purchased 3rd party from one of nearly 200 different suppliers when a plane is ordered. These choices are entirely up to the individual airline.

[Phil Water]

I have done quite a few trips in the Dreamliner and have to say after all the hype I was totalled underwhelmed.

Boeing hyped this aircraft because it is their first foray in to a territory dominated by Airbus.

They derided the fly by wire and composite technology and got left behind with variants of the 737 and 747 which were designed in the 1960's.

They got left behind and in trying to catch up made loads of mistakes not least in the electrics.

What territory dominated by airbus? The 787 is not even in the same sales category as the A-380, if that is what you mean. It is a twin engine wide body single deck. It's closest competitors are it's own 777 and Airbus A-330.

747 is currently a 1960's design but the current and soon 4th generation B-737 share absolutely zero design characteristics of Version 1 and 2 B-737. The current version 2 B-737 800 & 900 were some of the first widely successful "Fly By Wire" airliners including B-777.

The Planned 747-X will be the only Boeing to come close to comparing to A-380 but even it will be a long way off of competing directly. They will compare more directly to the doomed Airbus A-340 who's fuel and maintenance costs were so high that construction was prematurely halted after a few short years due to almost no new orders. Plans for the first all new 747 since inception include the wing material and design, as well as many other features of the twin engine, much smaller B-787 Dreamliner. Much of these design features are also in the newest rebuild of the B-737 (V-4) to debut in 2018 ish.

[neverdie]

Boeing have got left behind in commercial design and the Dreamliner is not match for the long established Airbus range.

The A380 is a wonderful aircraft. It will take Boeing decades to catch up.

Jay,

The A380 has not been well received at all. Sales have been very disappointing for Airbus and in fact they haven't even broken even on it, paying for all the development costs etc.

The A380 is a flop in more respects than one, whilst I acknowledge it's strong points, it's hardly the ground breaker that the 747 was.

If it wernt for Emirates, the A380 might have sent Airbus to the wall.

[jeffandgop]

For those who have not endured a flight in a Dreamliner it has hard seats.

I recently had the most uncomfortable journey in one from Ghuangzhou China to Bangkok. It was as bad as a similar trip,I endured from Mumbai to BKK on a 737. I am a regular sized bloke but the seat configuration and hardness made the three hour trip excruciating.

Give me an Airbus any day. I am not a. Thai Airways fan but I love their comfy roomy Airbus's on internal flights.

It's the airline/customer that selects the seat type- NOT the manufacturer.

[Johpa]

This is just one part of a much longer battle between the engineer's and mechanic's unions in Seattle against the non-union work force based in South Carolina. It also involves the politics regarding the failed outsourcing policy. The planes that are flying are safe although Boeing has a parking lot of the early production planes that are not flying.

[Gulfsailor]

Boeing have got left behind in commercial design and the Dreamliner is not match for the long established Airbus range.

The A380 is a wonderful aircraft. It will take Boeing decades to catch up.

Yes the A380 is a very good aircraft although Boeing has trumped Airbus with the 787 in fuel savings. It's Airbus who needs to catch up unless fuel prices go down.

NB:Interesting test done on trans Pacific flight comparing 777 and 787 fuel consumption = 30 tonnes less for the Dreamliner.

Incidentally, the OP story is a load of BS. Been circulating for many months and I'm surprised anyone would still give credence to it.

But the 777 can carry more (passengers and cargo), and the Airbus A380 even more than that.

I'd like to see costs per tonne, which might be a more meaningful statistic.

Added: This isn't up to date, but it states that the new A350's are 25% more fuel efficient than the 777. It also says the A380 is the most fuel efficient.

http://www.businesstraveller.asia/asia-pacific/news/six-of-the-most-fuel-efficient-aircraft

Business is a bit slow at the moment so fuel efficiency is important for me. An A380 can't land on my strip. I'll guess I have to settle for the A350.

[metisdead]

A trolling nonsense post has been removed.

[Asiantravel]

This is just one part of a much longer battle between the engineer's and mechanic's unions in Seattle against the non-union work force based in South Carolina. It also involves the politics regarding the failed outsourcing policy. The planes that are flying are safe although Boeing has a parking lot of the early production planes that are not flying.

" The planes that are flying are safe "

That is your opinion only of course.

I wonder, has there ever been in history as many critics of a plane accompanied by so many actual mishaps and failures? And not only from employees and ex employees of Boeing. Some are completely unrelated to the company and yet express their concern.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Donald Sadoway took a look at Boeing’s solution to the original battery problems and said it was not a sufficient fix. “Even inside that steel box with all of its fortifications, all of the elements are still there for fire,” he said.