The FAA investigates after Boeing says workers in South Carolina falsified 787 inspection records

By GENE JOHNSON
Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) — The Federal Aviation Administration has opened an investigation into Boeing after the beleaguered company reported that workers at a South Carolina plant falsified inspection records on certain 787 planes. Boeing said its engineers have determined that misconduct did not create “an immediate safety of flight issue.” An executive who leads the 787 program said in an April 29 email to employees that a worker observed an “irregularity” in a required test of the wing-to-body join and reported it to his manager. Boeing investigated and learned that several people had falsified inspection records by saying they had completed certain tests when they hadn’t. The executive says Boeing is taking “swift and serious corrective action.”