Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared on AVweb.com.
Boeing has found another significant manufacturing flaw in its 737 Max aircraft and it’s likely to throw a curveball at deliveries of its most popular aircraft.
The company says fuselages from its largest contractor, Spirit AeroSystems, have random extra holes drilled in the rear pressurization bulkhead. The Air Current broke the story on Wednesday and said the issue may be widespread.
Boeing inspectors reportedly found bulkheads with “hundreds” of misaligned and duplicated holes in the structure, some of which were filled with fasteners. They passed Spirit’s quality control inspections.
Boeing confirmed the issue and said it has a plan to address it. “During factory inspections, we identified fastener holes that did not conform to our specifications in the aft pressure bulkhead on certain 737 airplanes,” Boeing told msn.com.
Boeing is trying to increase production rates of the 737 to address a hefty backlog and this will be a hiccup in those plans.
