Quality Control and the Boeing 787
?Source: McCartney, Scott.? "How to Inspect Every Piece of aWidebody? Airplane."http://www.cetusnews.com/life/How-to-Inspect-Every-Piece-of-a-Widebody-Airplane.B1xPm2I4t-.html,posted
?8/30/2017.
Imagine? you're buying a? $270 million car.? You'd want to kickthe tires pretty hard.? That's what airlines do with new airplanes.Delivering one widebody airplane is a big
deallong dash—each
plane has a list price roughly the cost of a? high-risehotel.
Carriers like American Airlines station their own engineers atBoeing factories to watch their flying machines get built and checkparts as they arrive. Then they send flight? attendants, mechanicsand pilots for what are called shakedown inspections.
?"The rubber meets the road? here," says an American? manager,as he begins checking a brand new Boeing 787.? "It's inspected and?it's inspected and? it's inspected. And yet we still find? things."American is taking delivery of 57 new planes this year. Boeing doesits own? testing, but buyers do their own extra
inspectionlong dash—and
note an average of 140 items on a? plane's punchlist.
Five flight? attendants, a couple of mechanical experts and anAmerican test pilot attack the? 285-passenger plane. All the doorsand panels are opened for inspection. Flight attendants shake eachseat? violently, grab the headrest and pull it up and jerk the cordon each entertainment controller. They test power? ports, USB?ports, audio jacks and the entertainment system. They open alltray? tables, turn all lights on and off. They recline each seatwith? knee-knocking force. They flush all the? toilets, blow fakesmoke into smoke? alarms, make sure all prerecorded emergencymessages sound when required.
Inside the? cockpit, an American test pilot flies the jet toits? limits, making sure alarms sound when he increases air speedor slows the plane down to stall speed. He turns it sharply until?"bank angle" warnings sound. Each engine gets shut down andrestarted in the air. Every backup and emergency system is put intouse to make sure it works.
Critical Thinking Questions
1. Why do airlines feel the need to make quality?inspections?
A. The? $270 million price tag.
B. Pilots like to check emergency systems.
C. Manufacturers sometimes miss errors.
D. All of the above.
2. Who participates in shakedown? inspections?
A. Flight attendants only.
B. Boeing engineers.
C. Top management from the airline buying the plane.
D. Test pilots and other company representatives.
3. Flight attendants test the 787s
A. exterior paint.
B. ?seats, entertainment? systems, and power parts.
C. air speed.
D. legroom.
4. Inspection on a commercial jet takes place
A. before delivery to the customer.
B. during the first scheduled flight.
C. before the contract is signed.
D. at the part? supplier's shipping dock.
