Biz

Boeing: More “Dreamliner” Nightmares Coming

AL JAZEERA INVESTIGATIVE REPORT FOCUSES ON SOUTH CAROLINA FACILITY Aircraft manufacturer Boeing’s much maligned next generation passenger jet – the 787 “Dreamliner” – is the focus of an upcoming Al Jazeera investigation.  And it’s not going to be pretty … Scheduled for release on Wednesday, September 10, the Al Jazeera…

AL JAZEERA INVESTIGATIVE REPORT FOCUSES ON SOUTH CAROLINA FACILITY

Aircraft manufacturer Boeing’s much maligned next generation passenger jet – the 787 “Dreamliner” – is the focus of an upcoming Al Jazeera investigation.  And it’s not going to be pretty …

Scheduled for release on Wednesday, September 10, the Al Jazeera probe – entitled “Broken Dreams: The Boeing 787” – follows up on many of the production issues this website exclusively reported on last November.  It also uncovers alleged evidence of “drug taking among Boeing workers” as well as “Boeing workers who say they wouldn’t fly on the 787.”

And yes, the focus of the report is Boeing’s North Charleston, S.C. facility – which opened in 2011 after the company received more than $1 billion in subsidies from state taxpayers.

Sheesh … no wonder the company is so sensitive.

Perhaps most problematic for the Chicago-based company – which relies on government handouts at the state and federal level – the report claims “worries persist” about the battery fires that grounded the Dreamliner for several months last year.

In January 2013, the Federal Aviation Association (FAA) grounded the 787 due to conflagration issues associated with its lithium ion batteries.  Problems with the plane have continued since it was cleared for flight – including an incident last month in which a Dreamliner belonging to British-based Thomson Airlines began losing altitude and was forced to make an emergency landing during a transoceanic flight.

“We will not be flying on that plane again,” one of the passengers on the flight said, an opinion that’s evidently shared by the workers building the planes.

“I wouldn’t fly on one of these planes,” a worker at the North Charleston facility told Al Jazeera.  “Because I see the quality of the fu**ing sh*t going down around here.”

“We’re not building them to fly, We’re building them to sell. You know what I’m saying?” the worker adds.

The Al Jazeera report also quotes Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) expert Donald Sadoway regarding Boeing’s efforts to prevent additional fires related to its lithium batteries, which overheated and caused several fires on planes.

“I don’t think it’s a sufficient fix,” Sadoway says.  “Even inside that steel box with all of its fortifications, all of the elements are still there for fire.”

Here’s a preview of the Al Jazeera report …

(Click to play)

Wow …

FITS was the first news outlet in the country to report on production issues at Boeing’s North Charleston facility – which was built thanks to $1 billion in taxpayer-funded incentives doled out by Gov. Nikki Haley and state lawmakers.  Two months later, reporter Phil LeBeau – who covers automotive and aerospace issues for CNBC – confirmed much of our reporting.  More recently, The Seattle Times  and The Wall Street Journal  have referenced South Carolina’s production problems – while Reuters has exclusively reported on how those issues are affecting the company’s global supply chain.

Boeing says the Al Jazeera reporting team – led by Will Jordan (formerly of Britain’s Channel 4 and the BBC) – has presented claims with “no merit.”

“I’m extremely confident in the quality of the workforce in Boeing South Carolina,” the vice president and general manager of the 787 program tells the network.  “The number one focus that we have at Boeing is ensuring the continued safe airworthiness of an airplane, the integrity of the airplane and the quality of the airplane going out.”

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47 comments

CNSYD September 8, 2014 at 8:42 am

conflagration. Sic Willie loves this word. However he intentionally misuses it. Its meaning is rapidly spreading fire, mostly used for a fire that totally destroys wooden structures. Now did that occur with the 787?

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Mike at the Beach September 8, 2014 at 9:03 am

From that font of life wisdom, The Princess Bride: http://youtu.be/G2y8Sx4B2Sk

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CNSYD September 8, 2014 at 8:49 am

Al Jazeera is owned by Qatar. Qatar also owns Qatar Airways which counts among its fleet 14 787s and they have 46 more on order. So obviously their is a separate agenda which intrepid reporter Sic Willie is either too lazy to investigate or is intentionally ignoring.

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Mike at the Beach September 8, 2014 at 9:01 am

Dude, sorry to have bogarted your angle- didn’t read down before venting…

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Karadion September 8, 2014 at 1:37 pm

He’s the opposite of a muckraker. Probably worse than a tabloid.

I looked at the video and the questions I assume based on the answers given were:
“Hey what kind of drugs can I score in North Chuck.” and “Do they drug test?”
They don’t even drug test in Everett or Renton either. A couple years ago, a Pennsylvania Boeing HH-47 plant was raided when workers there were fucking around with drugs.

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CNSYD September 8, 2014 at 8:51 am

Sic Willie’s MIT expert says that all the elements for a fire are in the battery box. Well all the elements for a fire exist in the fuel tanks also. So?

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Yep! September 8, 2014 at 9:27 am

I love this comment. Though at times we are miles apart in ideology, you are right on the money on this one.

How do I know? I actually have a prototype battery box sitting here in my office I designed & built specifically for LiFe style lithium battery’s to industry standard form factors.

Why that style? Because you can run a nail through that battery style and it won’t explode/catch on fire like LiPo’s.

I can almost guarantee that Boeing is using anything but a LiFe style battery.

I wonder if the “MIT expert” is even remotely aware of LiFe batteries? If not, what a huge irony in that they were first invented at both the University of Texas and MIT!!!!! lol

Of course, like many taxpayer funded projects…A123(the company established by MIT players to market them) battery went belly up and the Chinese swooped in to acquire the taxpayer funded technology…but that’s a whole different issue.

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Mike at the Beach September 8, 2014 at 9:00 am

“upcoming Al Jazeera investigation”

That’s really all you need to know about this piece. FITS has found a new ally in the anti-Boeing campaign, and it just so happens to be a quasi-terrorist sympathizing outfit which also *happens* to be majority owned by the ruling family of Qatar (which owns/runs Qatar Airways, which buys Boeings and would likely enjoy seeing the price beaten down bit). Maybe the RT / Russia Today can break into their Snowden coverage long enough to help out.

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The Colonel September 8, 2014 at 9:01 am

Why do I suspect this will wind up being a “Prime Time Live – Food Lion” expose?
I spent a couple of years watching Al Jazeera – they generally get “news” right but their “non-news” story selection is so biased and agenda driven that you’re better off watching All in the Family reruns.

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Tom September 8, 2014 at 12:02 pm

Sort of like the Fake i mean Fox News Network here?

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The Colonel September 8, 2014 at 1:16 pm

All media is agenda driven in reporting “non-news”, it’s a matter of degree if Fox is a 5, Al Jazeera is an 8.
Foxes “news” coverage is better than Al Jazeera. Both certainly have a editorial bias but Fox tends to be fairly even keeled in reporting “news” (Non Hannity type opinion stuff).

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Herald_Henderson September 8, 2014 at 2:27 pm

bwahahahahahahahaaaa… oh wait, you are serious about Fox News… Let me laugh even harder. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

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The Colonel September 8, 2014 at 3:07 pm

I make this challenge and seldom get a coherent answer, show me where the Fox News division has gotten it wrong.

Walter-White September 8, 2014 at 9:07 am

Oh so now you’re a news source.

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Dave Chappelle September 8, 2014 at 9:23 am

The number of times that I care about reports from Al-Jazeera.

….0

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Jackie Chiles September 8, 2014 at 9:35 am

If only it weren’t for those taxpayer subsidies, Dreamliners would be pwning the earth with their awesomeness.

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Thank you statist September 8, 2014 at 9:44 am

You miss that the taxpayers should be funding their failure, but then again you have no qualms about the government taking people’s shit and handing it to big corporations.

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Thank you statist September 8, 2014 at 9:44 am

*shouldn’t

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Jackie Chiles September 8, 2014 at 10:01 am

Your tears are delicious.

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Thank you statist September 8, 2014 at 10:10 am

I’m not crying, you just shouldn’t be proud to endorse theft, but the reality is that your viewpoint represent 95% of the population and I’m sure you draw comfort in that.

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Jackie Chiles September 8, 2014 at 10:25 am

You seem dumb.

Thank you statist September 8, 2014 at 10:32 am

Funny, I was thinking the same thing about you.

Jackie Chiles September 8, 2014 at 11:00 am

(he typed, believing himself a clever fellow)

Thank you statist September 8, 2014 at 11:14 am

“(he typed, believing himself a clever fellow)”

How many times have you referred to someone here as “seeming dumb”?

Oh the irony of your calling someone out for the lack of inventivess…lol…you are truly a douchebag’s douchebag.

Jackie Chiles September 8, 2014 at 12:32 pm

(he typed, cheetos on his breath)

Thank you statist September 8, 2014 at 12:36 pm

Actually, your comment doesn’t seem dumb, it is dumb. But at least it’s one step out of your wheel house for once.

One more step and you might try to make an argument, but baby steps at first are safe.

Jackie Chiles September 8, 2014 at 1:43 pm

(he spewed, desperation creeping in)

OppressLibs September 8, 2014 at 10:48 am

Wait wait wait. I’m confused. The article is about Dreamliners, which is a Boeing product, but then I see the phrase “taxpayer subsidies.” Where did Airbus come into the conversation?
I recently flew on a 787, and I survived. I want to ask al-gore-zeera how I am still alive.

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Jackie Chiles September 8, 2014 at 11:03 am

See, Fits gets that once SC state money went into Boeing, everything crumbled apart. If Boeing had moved here on its own accord for the shitty school system, crumbling infastructure, and lower workforce costs, then it’d be a triumph of free market capitalism.

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Mary September 8, 2014 at 12:09 pm

Al Gore is not involved in Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera bought out the company he helped found and he is in litigation with them over that deal. But carry on with your BS. Facts and Republicans don’t mix. Its easier to lie since facts are generally biased against Republicans..

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idcydm September 8, 2014 at 12:39 pm

Those poor, poor polar bears.

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idcydm September 8, 2014 at 9:55 am

Cowboy boots and Al Jazeera…tune to channel 296, DIRECTV,

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Assembler B September 8, 2014 at 10:42 am

The blurred out “source” looks like it was taken in Bldg. 20.

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Monitoring Communications September 8, 2014 at 10:53 am

Covert Union activity detected to smear North Charleston into turning Union. Confirmed.

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E Norma Scok September 8, 2014 at 11:08 am

“Nightmares” and “Broken Dreams”?? WTF?

AFAIK, noone has died or even injured from anything having to do with a new Dreamliner.

Fits is taking this “add drama to attract women demographics” thing a little far. I fully expect to start seeing Fit’s penned critiques of Lifetime movies any day.

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E Norma Scok September 8, 2014 at 11:08 am

“Nightmares” and “Broken Dreams”?? WTF?

AFAIK, noone has died or even injured from anything having to do with a new Dreamliner.

Fits is taking this “add drama to attract women demographics” thing a little far. I fully expect to start seeing Fit’s penned critiques of Lifetime movies any day.

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easterndumbfuckistan September 8, 2014 at 11:14 am

Who is Boeing’s largest competitor? That would be Airbus, a “company” that is massively subsidized by multiple European Socialist Welfare States. We have to have Boeing to stay competitive on the world stage and to have capacity for aircraft manufacturing in case of war so yeah they are going to get some subsidies.

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Uh huh September 8, 2014 at 11:19 am

“We have to have Boeing to stay competitive on the world stage and to have capacity for aircraft manufacturing in case of war so yeah they are going to get some subsidies.”

How many times have you heard “stay competitive” and government funding in the same breath, hmmm?

Further, smaller manufacturers that could be sustained on military supply contracts USED to exist before the taxpayer funded merger bonanza.

So even if we buy into your notion that a corporation has to be “kept” for National Security, it certainly could be done better and that excuse never should be used to fund private ventures(like the Dreamliner).

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Karadion September 8, 2014 at 1:45 pm

“including an incident last month in which a Dreamliner belonging to British-based Thomson Airlines began losing altitude and was forced to make an emergency landing during a transoceanic flight.”

Which that was a GE problem, not a Boeing problem. The fault was the gearbox in the GEnx engine itself.
The plane didn’t lose altitude. They shut down the engine itself and went from FL410 to FL230.

Is FITS going to do an expose on General Electric?

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Native Ink September 8, 2014 at 4:53 pm

We’ll probably see you in this documentary. You’re the guy wearing a Boeing cheerleader’s uniform and a blindfold over his eyes.

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Karadion September 8, 2014 at 4:55 pm

What does that have to do with the documentary? The Thomson ETOPS landing has nothing to do with the plane itself outside of the engine. The fault was the gearbox in the GEnx engine which is something out of Boeing’s capabilities. The customers chooses the engines, not Boeing. They had a choice between Rolls-Royce and General Electric.

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Philip Branton September 8, 2014 at 3:15 pm

Dear SPAWAR Atlantic Captain…

See……I told ya….!!

What do you think happens when you are sitting on technology that can be applied to win the “Hearts and Minds” but yet spend 900 Million in tax payer subsidy LOOT on fluffing political pillows..!?

Ya know Captain…….did you think when you walked into the Carolina “buzz saw” that the outright media deception was so blatantly obvious.?

Kind of like everyday that YOU drive into the gate off of Remount and see that big MEAD-Westvaco American Flag blowing in the wind and never hear squat from Bobby Harrell or BEACH Company or Mayor Riley or a Fort “Sumpta” tour boat captain tell people how much WIND energy we have blowing over our thousands of square miles of MARSH instead of off-shore..!?

…and you wonder why they will NOT allow me to ask a question in any “Open” meeting in front of YOU or any planned “guest”…!?

Captain……you do know how any Dreamliner “nightmare” can be tracked back to a specific shift worker…do you not…?

SO…Captain, just sit back and think for a moment. How should this article be USED by Thomas Ravenel in an episode of “Southern Charm” before November 1st..?

…wonder if you will be asked to play a reporter-ette for “Fritz-news” to be the one to ask the question……would that be “un-ethical”…?

{Boomerang 101, 404, 901, ……….Dubai Ports 303, 304, 308..}

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Philip Branton September 8, 2014 at 4:00 pm

Dear SPAWAR Atlantic Captain…..

As a follow up to this article……….”news” has just broke in “major” media that Ray Rice has been cut by the RAVENS and the NFL has suspended him. Well, dare to ask WHY it took so long for this video to “come out” ..? Dare to wonder how many “copies” have been known and made by the various administrators at TMZ, ATT&T (….or other teleco provider..), Hotel video cam network administrator,…?

Not to mention police and law enforcement that LAWYERS have failed to obtain..!?

Captain………how is this an example of what happened with Lois Lerner or Lin Bennett or the VA or BOKO HARAM….or Dubai Ports…….or Harrell receipts……..or northern RAIL Access out of the Navy Yard..?

Captain….its time to blow some political ducks out of the pond water……

…we are better than 900 Million …are we not..?

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Native Ink September 8, 2014 at 4:55 pm

The truth will out eventually. Can we point Al Jazeera toward the Statehouse? I’d love for them to do an undercover expose on Harrell and Nikki.

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ELCID September 8, 2014 at 7:52 pm

Just a hatchet job that’s being orchestrated by the West Coast Union workers at Boeing’s factory. An underhanded way for them to get the factory closed in SC and control Boeings manufacturing sites.

Don’t fall for this Bull.

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Karadion September 8, 2014 at 9:40 pm

Boeing isn’t going to write off at least $10 billion of investment in South Carolina and their future expansion plans. They would have to spend another $10 billion to get the same program going in Washington State in order to sustain the 787 program overall.

They’d need to do in Washington:
Mid-body fuselage building (which supplies both Everett & Charleston)
Aft-body manufacturing building (which supplies both Everett & Charleston)
2 parallel production lines
3 paint buildings
4 office and administration buildings
IRC
MAX Inlet building (bringing work back in house from supplier Goodrich)
Relocating up to 1/4 of the workforce and providing home sales assistance
Hiring anywhere from 9000 to 12000 workers which costs about $20,000-$50,000 per worker in job hunting and training for a year each.
Forgoing lost production potential for at least 3-5 years
Rebuilding damage prestige for delaying customers
Eating billions in 787 order cancellations.
And the list goes on.

Of course the union over in Everett wants to see BSC shut down so they can bring the jobs “back”.

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FedUp September 9, 2014 at 10:12 am

Pay attention! They’re building them to sell, not to fly. And, that, in a nut shell is why unregulated US Capitalism is destroying our country. Thanks GOP…

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