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Fired engineer calls 787's plastic fuselage unsafe
Seattle Times Company ^ | Dominic Gates

Posted on 09/18/2007 6:42:21 AM PDT by jpsb

A former senior aerospace engineer at Boeing's Phantom Works research unit, fired last year under disputed circumstances, is going public with concerns that the new 787 Dreamliner is unsafe.

(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy
KEYWORDS: aerospace; boeing
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To: jpsb
Carbon fiber is a safe and durable material. They've made millions of bicycles from them without reported problems. The greatest revolution in lightweight high-strength materials have been thermoplastic composites. That's right next to aluminum in building everything from cars to planes that fly in the sky.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

21 posted on 09/18/2007 10:04:22 AM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: Yo-Yo
Look at the circumstances he claiming (through Dan Rather!) that would be required:

A SURVIVABLE crash of the jet - (unlikely - very, very few jets crash with people still alive who need to evacuate.

Survivors who lived through the crash, but are trying to get out ...

A fire that begins after impact, but spreads more rapidly (because of the resin/fibre construction) than a standard resin/fibre/aluminum/honeycomb construction!) ...

More people die after the 787 crash than would have otherwise.

Yes - these types of crashes have happened. But most jets auger straight in, at speeds way too fast for any to live. In TN recently, few survived the crash, and the fire-resistance of what was left of the plane didn’t matter. Seat location and luck of the impact forces were all that mattered.

22 posted on 09/18/2007 10:06:25 AM PDT by Robert A Cook PE (I can only donate monthly, but Hillary's ABBCNNBCBS continue to lie every day!)
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To: Little Ray

“Boeing is financially self-interested and their self interests are served by an unsafe aircraft. That should be enough for anybody...”

An unsafe airplane is in their best interest? You mean one that will crash and kill people. Thereby exposing them to multi-million dollar liability lawsuits and killing future sales of their products?

You must have Boeing confused with Airbus.


23 posted on 09/18/2007 10:06:30 AM PDT by driftdiver
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To: Kirkwood

I agree with you. I trust Boeing, I suppose, in this. There will always be trade offs in efficiency, safety in cost though.


24 posted on 09/18/2007 10:07:07 AM PDT by Greg F (Duncan Hunter is a good man.)
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To: jpsb
Weldon's allegations will be aired tonight by Dan Rather, the former CBS News anchor, on his weekly investigative show on cable channel HDNet.

Where nobody will see it.

If a video of a tree falling is shown on HDNet, and nobody is tuned in to hear it, did it make a sound?

25 posted on 09/18/2007 10:08:54 AM PDT by gridlock (I do not support Hillary Clinton because I am afraid of strong women)
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To: jpsb
Weldon's allegations will be aired tonight by Dan Rather, the former CBS News anchor, on his weekly investigative show on cable channel HDNet.

If Rather is involved the whole story could be fake.

Maybe Weldon is a fictional character.

26 posted on 09/18/2007 10:14:17 AM PDT by <1/1,000,000th%
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To: <1/1,000,000th%
If its Dan Rather doing the reporting, I'd bet the story is "fake but accurate." Like you said, who knows if Weldon - let alone his allegations - are real. I wouldn't trust anything has-been Rather puts on the air.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

27 posted on 09/18/2007 10:16:47 AM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: Greg F

>>The former engineer sounds a little like a fruitcake<<

If that’s true, then Boeing has to explain why they had a fruitcake on staff for 35 years. It sounds like they were looking for a reason to fire him.


28 posted on 09/18/2007 10:19:20 AM PDT by 1L
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To: Froufrou

Worked as a subcontractor for Boeing. Easily the best run company I’ve ever worked with. Hands down.


29 posted on 09/18/2007 10:23:21 AM PDT by Lonesome in Massachussets (NYT Headline: Protocols of the Learned Elders of CBS: Fake but Accurate, Experts Say)
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To: Lonesome in Massachussets

I lived there for 3 years and everyone I knew who worked there loved it. When the suffered a downsizing just before the closing at Hanford, everyone was just plain sad.


30 posted on 09/18/2007 10:24:44 AM PDT by Froufrou
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To: Robert A. Cook, PE

I’m no engineer, but carbon fiber has been used in race cars for a number of years, and the fire hazard in race cars is lower than it’s ever been. Back in the 60s and 70s, race drivers were getting fried all the time - Bandini, Siffert, Schlesser, Courage, Williamson in F1, Sachs, McDonald, etc at Indy. Now it’s extremely rare.


31 posted on 09/18/2007 10:27:24 AM PDT by Steve_Seattle ("Above all, shake your bum at Burton.")
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To: driftdiver; the OlLine Rebel; Greg F

It was a fumble finger; Check the next post.

Lemme try again: An unsafe aeroplane in NO way serves the financial interests of Boeing. Lawyers are settlements are WAAAAAAAY more expensive than engineers and QA personnel. And that isn’t counting the lost sales...


32 posted on 09/18/2007 10:29:44 AM PDT by Little Ray (Rudy Guiliani: If his wives can't trust him, why should we?)
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To: Froufrou
First composite air frame was the less-than-successful Beech (Raytheon) Starship. FAA certification was held up not for structural reasons, but because the fly-by-wire avionics weren’t shielded from lightning induced EMI by a metal airframe. A lot of the weight and fuel savings evaporated when they had to be retrofitted with shielded wiring.

I'm sure Boeing got a heads up from their experience.

33 posted on 09/18/2007 10:36:01 AM PDT by Lonesome in Massachussets (NYT Headline: Protocols of the Learned Elders of CBS: Fake but Accurate, Experts Say)
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To: Lonesome in Massachussets

No doubt! They were the biggest employer when I was there in the late 70s.


34 posted on 09/18/2007 10:39:35 AM PDT by Froufrou
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To: snarks_when_bored
A few crash tests of the Dreamliner would seem to be in order...

The drop test of a portion of the fuselage has been done and it has passed.

35 posted on 09/18/2007 7:47:57 PM PDT by burzum (None shall see me, though my battlecry may give me away -Minsc)
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