55 Boeing Dreamliners 'have potential' problem

Boeing said around 55 of its flagship 787 Dreamliners "have the potential" to develop a fuselage shimming problem, but reiterated that the fault was being fixed.
Shims are used to fill in space between parts and industry publication Flightglobal has reported that improperly joined pieces had caused "parts of the aircraft's carbon fibre structure to delaminate".
The discovery of the issue in early February is the latest snag to hit the showpiece but troubled jet, which suffered extensive production delays.
"In all the airplanes that we built, up to airplane 55 in round numbers have the potential for the shimming issue," said the aviation giant's vice president Jim Albaugh at a media roundtable in Singapore.
"It's very fixable and we are in the process of fixing the airplanes that are in flow, there is not a safety or flight issue on the airplanes that we've delivered and this is a long term issue that has to be addressed," he added.
Boeing has previously said the problem arose because "incorrect shimming was performed on support structure on the aft fuselage" of some 787s.
Albaugh -- who is concurrently the chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes -- stated the problem would not impact total Dreamliner deliveries scheduled for this year.
Boeing joins a growing chorus of airlines as well as countries including China, India, Russia and the US in decrying Europe's carbon tax scheme, saying it violates international law.
22/02/12 Bangkok Post

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Categories: Foreign Feb 2012