Static testing a valuable practice

So Boeing has identified a fastener problem in a very critical location on the 787 and is delaying the first flight of the airplane because of it. Everyone should be very glad this problem showed up in static test, rather than in a flying test article, or an airplane in commercial service. I’m old enough to remember when Douglas Aircraft Company suffered a structural failure during static test in both the wing and horizontal stabilizer of the then brand-new DC-8. To their credit, the people at Douglas had a new wing and horizontal stabilizer on that airplane in just one year, and both new sections survived static testing. I also remember well when Lockheed’s Electra began to shed wings in revenue flight. After three crashes very close together in which all on board were killed, the entire Electra fleet was grounded until Lockheed came up with a permanent fix.

This sort of thing is exactly what static test articles are for, and Boeing’s practice of “testing to destruction” has once more probably prevented a dangerous situation from getting into a flight test, or worse, a revenue service airplane.

Count your blessings.

Arch Whisman

Edmonds