✈️ Yet another Boeing flight scare

It’s been another tumultuous week for the aviation industry.

Boeing’s disastrous year continues as another incident occured aboard a commercial flight using on of its airliners. No injuries were reported, but the flight was forced to turn around and perform an emergency landing shortly after take off.

Not only that, another whistleblower has come forward raising concerns about the aviation giant’s assembly process.

Speaking of assembly, Ursa Major has signed a contract with the US Navy to rapidly scale up its rocket motor production using its 3D printing Lynx technology. Let’s dive right into the details.

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AEROSPACE ENGINEERING SPOTLIGHT

It’s another bad week for Boeing, as yet another incident occurred on a commercial flight with one of its planes.

To make matters worse for the company, a whistleblower claimed they believe the Boeing 787 Dreamliner could “fall apart” mid flight.

News regarding Boeing’s aircraft incidents carries a worrying sense of deja vu at this point, and it could all end in disaster.

This week, it started half an hour into a Southwest Airlines flight to Houston aboard a Boeing 737-800. Both cowlings from the aircraft’s second engine fell off and struck the wing flap, forcing the pilots to turn around and make an emergency landing.

No injuries were reported, but the incident adds to a long list of problems for Boeing. Earlier this year, a Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) audit found dozens of flaws in Boeing’s 737 Max production lines.

This week, a new whistleblower also came forward and raised concerns about the 787 Dreamliner’s assembly process. Former Boeing engineer Sam Salehpour claimed that he had flagged issues to management at Boeing and was told he could lose his job if he pursued them any further.

Salehpour claimed that parts of the 787 Dreamliner’s fuselage were inadequately secured, which could cause a rupture after repeated flights, leading the plane to break apart “mid-air”

The list of concerns continues to grow for Boeing. Much more importantly, its passengers’ safety is in jeopardy and some are reportedly starting to turn away, with people claiming they won’t fly if their flight is chartered aboard a Boeing aircraft.

Last week we asked “Would you consider boycotting Boeing?” here are the results

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Safran (5%)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 GE Aviation (45%)

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Pratt & Whitney (20%)

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ Rolls-Royce (30%)

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AERO BULLETIN

US rocket engine manufacturer Ursa Major announced this week that it has signed a contract with the US Navy for a new 3D-printed solid rocket motor. Let’s take a look at some of the best 3D printing technology the space industry has to offer.

Ursa Major

Ursa Major will use its state-of-the-art Lynx additive manufacturing technology to develop new solid rocket motors for the US Navy’s Standard Missile (SM) program. It was designed to help the US eliminate bottlenecks in military rocket production.

Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab arguably kickstarted the 3D printing revolution for space. Founded in 2006, the company’s Rutherford engines are made using a proprietary metallic 3D printing technology. The small satellite launch company has flown missions for NASA using its 3D-printed tech.

Relativity Space

TRelativity Space made history last year when it launched its 3D-printed Terran-1 rocket. The rocket, made almost entirely from 3D-printed components, didn’t quite reach orbit. However, Relativity Space said it collected more than enough data to move onto the development of its next rocket, the Terran-R.