New Boeing Dreamliner defect discovered

A new defect has been discovered in Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, the company confirmed on Thursday, though the issue is not an immediate safety concern.

“We received a notice from one of our suppliers about certain 787 parts that were improperly manufactured. While our investigation is ongoing, we have determined that this does not present an immediate safety of flight concern for the active in-service fleet,” Boeing told The Hill in a statement on Thursday.

“Yet-to-deliver airplanes will be reworked as necessary prior to customer delivery. Any potential fleet actions will be determined through our normal review process and confirmed with the FAA,” the company added, referring to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The new issue relates to certain titanium parts that are weaker than they should be, according to a Boeing spokesperson. 

Boeing discovered the titanium issue on some recently built 787 Dreamliners during an audit, according to the spokesperson. 

The aviation giant has since done repairs to two of the undelivered Dreamliners that would have been grounded because they had a significant amount of the weak parts, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people close to the company.

The Journal first reported on the titanium defect.

The new defect is the latest in a series of issues Boeing has faced related to its 787 Dreamliner.

The Journal reported in September that around $25 billion worth of the aircraft may not be delivered until late this month as the company works to prove to air-safety regulators that it has adequately tended to defects found on the plane.

The delay reportedly came after the FAA rejected Boeing’s request for an accelerated approval process that called for using targeted checks of three planes instead of full inspections.

In July, the FAA revealed that a manufacturing issue was found near the nose of certain undelivered 787 Dreamliners. That defect, however, did not pose an immediate flight safety risk, according to Boeing.