Boeing plant has safety problems, report finds

Boeing’s factory in North Charleston, S.C., one of two plants that produces the 787 Dreamliner, has faced problems with production and oversight that create a safety threat, the New York Times reported.

The Times cited a review of internal emails, corporate documents and federal records, as well as interviews with more than a dozen current and former employees.

Faulty parts have been installed in some of the planes, and metal shavings were often left inside the jets. A technician at the plant, Joseph Clayton, said he routinely found debris dangerously close to wiring beneath cockpits.

Brad Zaback, Boeing South Carolina’s site leader, disputed the report in an email to his team, saying the manufacturing operations are healthy and performing strongly based on quality metrics. The newspaper also declined Boeing’s invitation to visit that site, he said.

The report “paints a skewed and inaccurate picture of the program and of our team here at Boeing South Carolina,” he said. “This article features distorted information, rehashing old stories and rumors that have long ago been put to rest.”

John Barnett, a former quality manager who retired in 2017 after almost three decades at Boeing, said he found clusters of metal slivers hanging over the wiring that commands flight controls. A U.S. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman, Lynn Lunsford, said the agency inspected several planes that Boeing had certified as free of such debris and found the same metal slivers.