Posted on 05/13/2008 8:09:26 PM PDT by denydenydeny
FBI Monitoring 'Incident' At Ridley Township Plant
RIDLEY TOWNSHIP, Pa. (CBS3/AP) ― Boeing Rotorcraft Systems temporarily shut down a production line for several hours Tuesday at its suburban Philadelphia plant because of possible irregularities discovered in two military helicopters.
The company disclosed few specifics about why the shutdown of the H-47 Chinook helicopter line at the plant in Ridley Township, Pa., occurred. It said an investigation was under way and it was working with the Defense Contract Management Agency, which oversees military suppliers.
Boeing officials said they discovered "irregularities" in two of the aircrafts that were being assembled at the plant. The nature of the irregularities was not immediately known.
Jack Satterfield, a company spokesman, said workers were expected to report for work Wednesday, even as the investigation continued.
Rep. Joe Sestak, a Democrat whose district includes the plant, said he was told during a briefing that wires that appeared to be broken or severed were found in one helicopter and a suspicious washer was found in a second.
Sestak said the assessment was preliminary and he expects that the findings of a more thorough review would be available on Wednesday. He praised Boeing's handling of the situation, and said it was much too early to speculate on what happened.
Satterfield said the shutdown was isolated to the line at the Pennsylvania plant and does not affect operational aircraft.
The Chinook is known as the Army's workhorse aircraft. It is used to transport troops and supplies.
Boeing is currently producing new Chinooks for the Army, as well as updating older models.
A message left Tuesday evening with the Defense Contract Management Agency was not immediately returned.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Livius, thank you so much for posting that anecdote, re the Muslim saboteur. It made my day. I am kind of loving the picture it brings to my mind’s eye.
Livius, thank you so much for posting that anecdote, re the Muslim saboteur. It made my day. I am kind of loving the picture it brings to my mind’s eye.
My first thought was Unions employed at the plant.
It is a classic union tactic. Screw up the project toward the end and have to redo it.
Guarantees job security.
Possible outcome: The one responsible will claim an honest/careless mistake. Same person has connections to Code Pink or some such sort of organization.
Agreed. And something like this would be caught eventually anyways. I assume they have a QA department as diligent as ours is.
Could be some disgruntled employee. The two incidents seem to be quite different. Same employee? I don't think so.
Sabotage?
or, incompetence and a lack of pride in one’s work on the assembly line?
Hard to tell.
I have personally seen commercial airliners sabotaged by disgruntled union mechanics. Nice thought that one of your loved ones could get killed because of one of these little hissy fits.
Doubt it. Most likely the workers had someone who didn’t want to follow the rules and took a shortcut.
They’re still making Chinooks? You would think they would have come up with something better by now.
That's interesting. I always thought the plural of aircraft was still aircraft.
But then again, I grew up speaking the language and didn't ever attend J School.
Owl_Eagle
If what I just wrote made you sad or angry,
it was probably just a joke.
Attempting to disable aircraft which carry our precious military sons and daughters should carry the death penalty whether we are technically at war or not.
It's the only punishment which will act as a deterrent except among virgin-seeking radical Muslims saboteurs.
Leni
Dare call it treason....
Wires damaged is pretty serious, but the washer thing is just FOE. Foreign Object Elimination can shut a line down, and something the size of a washer can do it. Ending a shift with a screwdriver missing from its designated spot will also stop a line.
The wire harness is another story.
If I’m anything, it’s reasonable.
I’d go for using a firing squad versus, well I don’t know, tar and feathering before the hanging. I’m one reasonable guy when it comes to my country.
LOL, as Tony Kornheiser says, journalists would be a lot better off study English rather than journalism.
My Ex was suspicious of my washer also
My mom worked at that plant back in the ‘60s.
Muslim terrorist? Democrat? Sabotaging the military is treason. Especially during wartime.
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