Midwest Chick's Place

Aerospace component suppliers were investigated regarding this very thing, counterfeit fasteners, back in the '80's resulting in several prison terms and large fines. Looks like someone forgot to pass the word along. (See Fastener Quality Act for reference)

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'Twasn't only Boeing. Airbus got caught in this as well. But Boeing is, of course having their turn the press barrel this year.

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I just watched a program were improperly smelted titanium cause a fatigue failure in a DC-9 that crashed in Iowa in the 1990s.The failure changed the way titanium in aircraft was smelted, now under vacuum several times to remove any oxygen or nitrogen from the metal. This must have raised the cost significantly so any cheaper material would be suspect for sure. I would assume (yes I know) there would be an audit trail to any certified supplier. We went through this for parts we sent to NASA or Boeing when I was working.

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Chinesium is right, and not 'all' the problems are Boeing's. Maintenance and engine issues aren't their faults, and yes, those folks are having issues too!

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Robert—We can only hope that there is jail time. Seems grifters walk nowadays.Don-We can actually blame Nixson for opening the door.B—Good point. And yeah, Boeing is having a bad year.Turbosquid—Yep.Gerry—They’ve caught them. Now let’s see the consequences.WDS—I know exactly what you’re talking about. Temps or contractors are out for the bottom line, not for the best of the company they are loaned to.NFO—Boeings problems are multifaceted because airlines are not doing proper maintenance. It’s not Boeings fault that wheels are falling off of 10 year old planes.Anon-I bet they all skate.

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Nothing new here. Roughly 25 years ago I was involved in designing some industrial vessels for producing polymer catalyst. We needed a special alloy that could withstand ~900 degrees C. There's a grade of Inconel that must be used, very expensive. And everyone in the industry also knew that any Inconel sourced from China was suspect. They actually added to the industry metal standards one temp rating for Inconel 600 produced anywhere but China, and a much lower rating for Inconel 600 produced in China. Thanks to Bill and Hillary for getting us in bed with those commie bastards.

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Chinesium

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Boeing in Charleston SC was also found to be falsifying QC data. In any manufacturing environment there are at least 3 inspection stages. Incoming, work in progress & post manufacturing or processing. Components received from suppliers MUST be randomly & regularly checked that they meet design specs. If components cannot meet these specs they must be rejected and returned to the supplier.Cant make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.In the initial stages of Boeing's plant in Charleston, they relied heavily on “temp agencies” for manpower and trainees. Anyone having to deal with temp agencies in the south will know exactly what I'm talking about regarding the quality of these “hires”.

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The best part, according to US import law, the city in Kansas will take the fall and the company in China will skate.

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