US: FAA to inspect several Boeing Dreamliners due to production issues

The FAA said Wednesday that it will inspect four of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner planes itself, rather than delegating that work to Boeing, after production issues surfaced last year. “The FAA is taking a number of corrective actions to address Boeing 787 production issues,” the agency said. “One of the actions is retaining the authority to issue airworthiness certificates for four 787 aircraft. The FAA can retain the authority to issue airworthiness certificates for additional 787 aircraft if we see the need.” The increased scrutiny of the Dreamliners comes four months after the FAA lifted a 20-month flight ban on Boeing’s best-selling 737 Max, which the regulator grounded in March 2019 after two deadly crashes in five months. The FAA also retained its authority to sign off on Max planes that Boeing produced since the grounding. Boeing disclosed issues with some seams on the aircraft in September.<br/>