The problem is, there's no competition. If you need an airliner, it's Boeing or Airbus. As Boeing struggles, Airbus can increase their prices or terms, making the less pricey, yet dodgy QA at Boeing seem more economically attractive.
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This is likely to be United's fault and not Boeing's...but it's still not a good look. Frustrating that the news article says a "tyre" fell off when it was actually the entire wheel. Lucky nobody was underneath it when it returned to terra firma:
Watch: United Airlines plane loses wheel during take-off
The Tokyo-bound Boeing-777 was diverted to Los Angeles, where it made a safe emergency landing.
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We used to say that government inspectors could be in an aircraft factory or a meat packing plant, it's all the same. Some AF inspectors that I saw were well qualified and some seemed to have been hired just to fill a space. That said, you can't inspect in quality; it has to be built in. A good inspector who watches the job in progress instead of just showing up for a final inspection and paperwork sign-off is invaluable but you also need the production workers to have quality as their goal instead of schedule and budget. Where I worked the union contract was changed so that hourly mechanics who took salaried supervisory jobs were no longer able to keep their union seniority. When they were able to keep their union seniority, you'd hear supervisors say that if their manager pressured them too much, they'd "go back to the toolbox". After the system was changed, experienced mechanics didn't want to become supervisors so people were hired off the street to be salaried supervisors and knew that their jobs depended on meeting schedule and budget. You might have a whole crew from supervisor on down with no experience on the particular aircraft and they could easily make honest mistakes that the inspector wouldn't catch because he was stretched too thin and could only come by for required "stamp off" inspections. There are also some people who will cover up bad work that they don't think will matter and they're often right, it won't be a problem for thirty years but sometimes they're wrong.
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Why do you call them idiots if there was no sign to keep the belt on?
Repeated announcements over the PA. Occasional reminders on the in-flight entertainment. It's usually somewhere in the in-flight magazines. Me, I leave the belt on if I'm in my seat. It makes turbulence fun time, not ouchy time.
The originally story totally made it seem like "another Boeing incident."This incident was caused by operator error, exacerbated by idiot passengers not keeping their seatbelts fastened. However, it's a Boeing aircraft so it's going to make the news:
Boeing tells pilots to check seats after Latam plane incident
It comes during an ongoing investigation into how a Latam flight suddenly dropped injuring 50 people.
Here's the original story for those who didn't see it:
Fifty hurt as NZ-bound flight hit by 'technical' issue
Passengers on the flight from Sydney to Auckland reported experiencing a "quick little drop".
Yeap
