Address concerns with Boeing about technical issues
Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Muhammad Faruk Khan has directed Biman Bangladesh Airlines to talk to the US plane maker Boeing about technical defects raised by a former Boeing engineer regarding the Dreamliner-787 aircraft.
The minister gave this instruction during a telephone conversation with Biman's Managing Director and CEO Shafiul Azim yesterday.
The minister said, "Since the Dreamliner aircraft in the fleet of Biman are new, we have nothing to worry about the technical problems that have arisen for now. However, thinking about the future and in the interest of ensuring passenger safety, the issue needs to be clarified by talking to the aircraft manufacturer, Boeing, about the technical issues."
In response, Biman's CEO said they are in constant communication with Boeing regarding technical and maintenance issues.
"We will inform soon after knowing more information about this," he added.
Meanwhile, Air Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman, chairman of Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh, has said they also asked Biman to examine the alleged security flaws in its Dreamliner aircraft.
"We will ask Biman to remove the aircraft if any fault is found," he added.
Currently, airlines around the world have more than 1,000 Dreamliners. Biman has six Dreamliners that it flies to the Middle East, Europe and Canada.
The Telegraph on April 17 reported citing a Boeing whistleblower that the Dreamliner jets should be grounded for safety checks as manufacturing errors left them structurally unsound.
In the report, engineer Sam Salehpour claimed that a race to speed up production had led to serious problems with the aircraft including small gaps between sections of fuselage.
Salehpour told US broadcaster NBC, "The entire fleet worldwide, as far as I'm concerned right now, needs attention. And the attention is, you need to check the gaps and make sure that you don't have potential for premature failure."
He detailed his concerns later on April 17 in a hearing in the US Senate, claiming Boeing had used excessive force to help close gaps between fuselage sections before adding shims, or thin strips of metal.
Such force is known to cause fatigue in composite materials such as those used on the Boeing-787 that cannot be detected visually, he also said.
This week, Boeing claimed the allegations to be inaccurate, adding that they have full confidence in the aircraft based on the work done to ensure its quality and long-term safety.
A Boeing official said the model has been stress-tested for 165,000 flight cycles, beyond its expected lifespan, and that no aircraft has shown evidence of fatigue.
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