Exclusive: Boeing seeking to reduce scope, duration of some physical tests for new aircraft - source

[Dennis Donovan]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-airshow-boeing-certification-e-idUSKCN1TH0A3?utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_content=5d0645a7b1a3150001dd5602&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter



PARIS (Reuters) - Boeing Co engineers are reducing the scope and duration of certain costly physical tests used to certify the planemaker’s new aircraft, according to industry sources and regulatory officials.

But the strategy could be at risk if regulators and U.S. lawmakers probing two deadly Boeing plane crashes require even more rigorous safety tests before certifying new aircraft as passenger-worthy.

As Boeing kicks off the year-long flight testing process on its new 777X, its engineers will cut hours off airborne testing by using computer models to simulate flight conditions, and then present the results to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as part of the basis for certification, according to two people with direct knowledge of the strategy.

Reuters could not determine when Boeing decided to move forward with the plan to cut back on physical tests or the extent to which it planned to reduce them for the 777X.

For Boeing’s proposed twin-aisle jetliner, known internally as NMA, Boeing’s Test & Evaluation group is developing the technology to replace costly and labor intensive physical safety tests used for decades - such as using machines to bend the wings to extreme angles and shaking the fuselage until it cracks - with computer modeling, according to three people with knowledge of the matter, including an FAA official.

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Bill Allen and Tex Johnston are spinning in their graves. This is how they flight-tested when safety was actually a concern:

&t=3s

[GeorgeGist]

1. It worked so well with the 787 Max ...

why not?

[dalton99a]

2. Bean counters are in charge of Boeing engineering. Pretty soon they'll say the wings are too long

[malaise]

4. The bean counters are in charge of everything

Profits before lives is the new meme

[spanone]

3. how well did that work with the max roll out?

[MBS]

5. Cutting corners on flight testing is so obviously not in their own short-term or long-term interest

and, worse (and as your video eloquently demonstrates) it's fundamentally at odds with their own long tradition. Given the problems with the 737Max, this decision is also phenomenally poorly timed, PR-wise.
This seems NUTS.

[DFW]

9. When it comes to airliners

Bean counters can become people killers.

Boeing had better get into survival mode or cede the world market to Airbus while they still have a dime in their bank account.

[DFW]

7. They will need to call their next airliner the "Pinto"

And they had better have a cash reserve in the trillions to pay out all the families of their victims.

[RainCaster]

13. No, they will pay off the FAA officials, and the US taxpayers will be stuck with the bill

Just like we did with the banking industry

[Bettie]

8. What could possibly go wrong?

A lot could go wrong...but hey, I'm betting Boeing executives fly in planes that are safe, so who cares about the little people!

[RainCaster]

14. As long as the tests aren't shortened for Gulfstar or Lear...

[safeinOhio]

10. I'm calling for the same

crash test car models have to have.

[Submariner]

11. Smithsonian Channel - Air Disasters

If Boeing goes through with this idea, you can bet a 737 MAX will go down because of what was missed/ignored during this flight testing phase.

At least it will guarantee the Smithsonian Channel a one hour Air Disasters program where they can explain to us why and how the 737 Max crashed.

[Dennis Donovan]

15. It's just such a departure from Boeing's normal practices...

When flight testing the prototype 747-100, they beat the HELL of of it! Tail strikes, locking the brakes on the landing gear until the tires burst into flames (and then waiting a period of time before putting the fires out).

[Sherman A1]

12. What a "wonderful" idea

[moondust]

16. Let me guess...

The bosses are all princelings who inherited fortunes, bribed their way through "top" colleges, didn't learn anything, never worked a job that taught them how to do anything, and their main concern now is boosting their stock price by cutting labor costs to grow their profits.

Glad I no longer have to fly. The past few years I've suspected that testing of lots of things is being cut--sacrificing quality, reliability, and safety in favor of short-term profits.