Boeing Plane in Development Fails Safety Test

Published: Sept. 18, 2019, 6 p.m.

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Boeing\\u2019s disaster year continues to hurtle down the runway, as we learned this week that one of the company\\u2019s planes failed a safety test \\u2013 and it\\u2019s not the sidelined 737 Max jet, the model blamed for two deadly crashes since last Fall.

And that might actually be worse because, this time, it\\u2019s the 777X, a Boeing plane that is still under development, but one the company needs to help offset the sales vacuum that\\u2019s been sucking the air out of Boeing\\u2019s profits. That\\u2019s because 4,500 orders for Max jets are sitting unfilled as the company continues to struggle to revise the cockpit technology to the point where it satisfies regulators and passengers alike.

But back to the 777X. This model is considered a key product for Boeing as it\\u2019s the longest body aircraft of any commercial jet, allowing it to carry up to 425 passengers on routes as long as 7,600 nautical miles. But not just yet, because during last week\\u2019s test, the aircraft reportedly failed its final high-pressure load test.\\xa0

According to Aviation International News, the test requires the craft\\u2019s wings \\u201cto bend to 150 percent of the maximum load they would likely encounter in flight while pressure gets applied to the skins of the wing and fuselage.\\u201d During Friday\\u2019s test, the rear part of the fuselage depressurized and a door even came off the plane.

Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg downplayed the incident somewhat, suggesting that what happened was not unusual for a static test, and reinforcing that the plane had made it through 99 percent of its tests. That said, the incident is unlikely to speed things up for the craft that\\u2019s been facing other problems with its timetable, including issues with the plane\\u2019s GE engines needing some last-minute redesigns.

And the timetable is, of course, important. Last year, Boeing sold 99 planes in the month of August. This year \\u2013 6.

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