A US campaign group has accused Boeing of concealing information about electrical problems on a plane that later crashed.The Foundation for Aviation Safety claimed the aircraft, which went down in Ethiopia in 2019, had suffered a number of issues, including an “uncommanded roll” at low altitude.
The organisation said more than 1,000 planes currently flying could potentially be at risk of electrical failures as a result of production problems.
The BBC has approached Boeing for comment.
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The foundation’s claims relate to an aircraft which hit the ground minutes after take-off from Addis Ababa in March 2019.
The plane was a 737 Max, at the time a brand-new model. It was the second of its type to be lost, following a previous accident off Indonesia in late 2018.
Both crashes were primarily attributed to a poorly designed flight control system, which activated at the wrong time due to a sensor failure.
The foundation has published a number of documents on its website, which it says are build records for the aircraft involved in the Ethiopian accident, leaked by Boeing employees.
The documents, which are highly technical, set out problems encountered during the construction process.
The foundation claims they “paint a clear picture of the confusing and chaotic production operations going on at the 737 factory when this airplane was being manufactured.”
According to the Foundation, among the apparent issues indicated by the documents are a lack of electrical parts, missing and improperly installed wiring, and employees being placed under extreme pressure to rework defective parts.
The Foundation claims this connects to electrical issues it says were suffered by the plane in the weeks and months leading up to the crash.
A further document allegedly describes an incident involving the same aircraft, three weeks after it had been delivered to its owner, Ethiopian Airlines.
A record of communications between Boeing and the airline, it sets out how the plane suffered an “uncommanded roll” at low altitude while preparing to land.
This was later attributed to an intermittent fault with wiring, according to the foundation.
The Foundation for Aviation Safety claims these documents were concealed from “government authorities, law enforcement, airline customers, victim families, and the public”.
