A Boeing 737 MAX 8 stands outside the hangar on a media tour of the Boeing 737 MAX at the Boeing factory in Renton, Washington, December 8, 2015. REUTERS / Matt Mills McKnight / File Photo
An electrical problem that caused dozens of Boeing 737 MAX jets to be taken out of service has intensified after engineers discovered similar ground faults elsewhere in the cockpit, industry sources said Friday.
Airlines retired dozens of MAX jets a week ago after Boeing Co (BA.N) warned of a production-related electrical grounding problem in a backup power control unit in the cockpit of some recently built aircraft. read more
Since then, suspected grounding problems have been found in two other places in the cockpit, the sources said.
These include the storage rack where the affected control unit is kept and the instrument panel opposite the pilots.
Boeing did not directly comment on the broader issue, first reported by Aviation Week. (https://bit.ly/3mT210Y)
Boeing shares closed 1.2%.
The outage – affecting about a fifth of MAX jets on the market – is the latest problem plaguing Boeing’s best-selling model, but is unrelated to design issues that contributed to a 20-month global safety ban after two fatal accidents. . .
Boeing is expected to produce bulletins advising airlines on how to fix grounding issues, or the electrical paths designed to maintain safety in the event of a power surge.
US regulators must first approve the bulletins.
While most analysts say the fix is expected to be relatively straightforward, no details were immediately available on the timing of the repair bulletins needed to start work on about 90 jets hit by the suspension.
The plan maker had initially told airlines that a repair could take hours or a few days by jet, according to a report Reuters had seen when the partial suspension was first announced.
The problem stems from a change in material coating when production of the 737 MAX resumed last year.
Nearly all affected aircraft were built before delivery of the MAX resumed in December, shortly after US regulators lifted the fleet-wide ban following the 2018 and 2019 crashes.
Boeing has said it plans to gradually increase production of the 737 MAX from an unspecified current “low rate” to a target of 31 jets per month in early 2022. Industry sources estimate that it is currently about four jets per month.
However, airlines say Boeing has not delivered MAX jets since the electrical problem was identified last week.
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