The US Air Force once stopped the delivery of Boeing KC-46A tanker.

[Compile/Observer Network Wang Kaiwen]

Two serious air crashes claimed 346 lives, which made the safety of Boeing 737 MAX passenger plane questioned. However, Boeing’s troubles don’t stop there. The new tanker KC-46A Pegasus built for the US Air Force was found to contain foreign objects such as garbage and tools after delivery, which led the US military to announce the suspension of receiving this type of aircraft last month.

Although KC-46A resumed delivery two days before Trump announced that the United States grounded the 737 MAX passenger plane, strong concerns still lingered in the hearts of the US military. The Wall Street Journal even used "losing confidence" to describe the current mood of the US military.

According to a report by CNN)3 on March 14th, Will Roper, Assistant Secretary for Procurement, Technology and Logistics of the US Air Force, clearly expressed his concern after visiting Boeing’s assembly plant in Everett, Washington on the 11th:

"I was worried when I left, and I was thinking,Boeing understands that they are facing a severe situation.This requires the participation of the top management of their company. "

CNN screenshot

KC-46A is a new generation tanker built by Boeing for the US Air Force, which is expected to be put into service in 2019. The delivery of KC-46A has been delayed for two years due to the slow progress of research and development and project cost overruns, and the first aircraft was delivered in January this year.

However, after the tanker was delivered, the US military found foreign debris including tools and other metals in many parts of the aircraft, so it announced on February 20 that it would suspend receiving this type of tanker until Boeing cleared the debris left in the tanker and worked out a solution to the problem.

Roper once bluntly said after a congressional hearing, "We are not satisfied with this at all. We don’t want to receive the tanker in this way. It is simply unacceptable for the team to clean a plane five times. "

According to the US military information website "Strategy Page", most foreign body debris (FOD) comes from small objects inhaled during takeoff and landing. Nearly half of the accidents related to foreign debris are caused by small objects being inhaled into the engine, resulting in aircraft damage or major accidents.

The analysis pointed out that,Foreign body fragments are found after the aircraft is delivered or the user finds them at the final acceptance, which shows that there are serious problems in the work of the assembly plant and its supervision mode.

KC-46a (defenceaviation.com National Defense Aviation Website Map)

The assembly factory of KC-46A said that it found out during the assembly process.Eight incidents of foreign bodies, and at least two others were discovered after the plane was delivered to the US Air Force.

After Boeing took new measures to check and adjust these planes, the US Air Force resumed receiving KC-46A on March 11th. At present, Boeing has delivered seven of the 52 aircraft under the existing contract, and the company expects to deliver 179 tankers to the Pentagon.

Roper said on the 11th that although these foreign debris were left in the plane when it left the production line, it was not a design or safety risk, but it was still a matter of great concern to the military.

Some air force officials also told CNN,After the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft was grounded, the timing of this problem was extremely sensitive for Boeing.

“The US Air Force has lost confidence in Boeing’s ability to ensure the quality of its new aerial tanker., "The Wall Street Journal said when reporting this news on March 14th.

Screenshot of The Wall Street Journal

The report quoted Robb as saying on Thursday that he thought it would take.More than a year to measure and track Boeing’s performance.In order to restore confidence in the company’s process, it may take longer to be sure that Boeing has restored its quality-oriented culture.

"This is a cultural defect, and they must be rebuilt," said Roper. In addition, Boeing has agreed that the Air Force will conduct more frequent spot checks on KC-46A production lines.

However, he stressed that the Boeing 737 MAX crash had no impact on military contracts.

Us media: aviation safety issues are torturing American leadership.

On the KC-46A issue, the US Air Force responded in a timely manner, but on the grounding of 737 MAX, the "grounding" of the United States after some twists and turns was questioned by the whole world.

Washington post pointed out in an article published on 14th that the chaotic reaction of American regulators and Trump administration to Boeing 737 MAX made people doubt not only the international airworthiness of this type of aircraft, but also the leadership of the United States.

Globally, the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States has been representing the "gold standard" of aviation safety for decades. Since the Ethiopian Airlines crash on Sunday (the second Boeing 737 MAX plane crash in less than five months), foreign observers have been paying attention to Washington’s handling of this crisis. Critics accuse the United States of improper response, which is caused by unstable decision-making at best and domestic commercial interests at worst.

Critics say that the result of this incident has damaged the credibility of the United States as a global aircraft standard setter, and at the same time,It may also usher in an era in which international regulators, especially those in China and Europe, will exert more and more influence.

In addition, Mary Schiavo, the former inspector general of the US Department of Transportation, also pointed out that Ethiopia has decided to send the black box in Sunday’s crash to France instead of the United States for analysis. "This cannot but weaken people’s confidence in US aviation supervision and American leadership."

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