The first commercial flight of the Qantas Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft on December 15, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia.
James D. Morgan | Getty Images
The Federal Aviation Administration said on Wednesday that it will inspect four of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner planes, instead of delegating that work to Boeing after production problems arose last year.
“The FAA is taking a series of corrective actions to resolve production problems with the Boeing 787,” the agency said in a statement. “One of the actions is to retain the authority to issue certificates of airworthiness for four 787 aircraft. The FAA may retain the authority to issue certificates of airworthiness for additional 787 aircraft if we see the need.”
The Dreamliners’ scrutiny has increased four months after the FAA lifted the 20-month flight ban on Boeing’s best-selling 737 Max, which the regulator lifted in March 2019 after two fatal accidents in five months. The FAA also maintained its authority to sign the Max planes produced by Boeing since the grounding.
Boeing reported problems with some seams on the aircraft in September.
The FAA told Boeing in January that it would give final approval for the planes, according to a letter seen by CNBC. It was previously reported by Bloomberg News. Boeing said it still hopes to resume deliveries of the planes later this month.
“We are excited about the progress that our team is making in returning to the delivery activities of the 787 program, “said Boeing.” We have involved the FAA in all of this effort and will implement its guidance for approving the airworthiness certification of the initial planes as they have done in the past. “
While these most recent Dreamliner checks came in response to production problems, the FAA said it has carried out final airworthiness checks on some 787s in recent years “so that FAA inspectors can meet their inspection currency requirements”.