FAA, Citing Flaw, Tells Boeing to Halt Delivery

Boeing Co. said insulation in the cockpit shields on more than 1,100 of its commercial jetliners may fail to meet federal safety standards because it burns too easily when exposed to open flames.

Federal officials have taken the unusual step of ordering the Seattle aerospace giant to halt delivery of an additional 34 aircraft while it studies how to repair the cockpit component, called a flight deck drip shield.

The company’s announcement of the problem comes as federal investigators are investigating Sunday’s crash of a 767 flown by EgyptAir. In a statement, the Federal Aviation Administration said, “the safety of the traveling public is our highest concern in this matter” but that “there is no known connection” linking the crash to the cockpit defect.

Boeing said it was the first time the FAA had asked it to hold off on delivery of airplanes to deal with a compliance matter. In 1989, the company voluntarily stopped deliveries of 747-400s because components were being installed out of sequence.

Boeing spokesman Randy Harrison said the company does not consider the shield, which prevents condensation from dripping into the cockpit interior, “as an immediate safety concern” and that “it is not related to any accident, incident or in-service event in these aircraft.”

The company discovered the defect itself at its component plant in Spokane, Wash., and then notified the FAA on Thursday. Boeing could not say how much it will cost to replace the adhesive in the existing 1,100 jetliners, but analysts estimated it could cost the company $10 million to $20 million.

Paul Nisbet, president of aerospace consulting firm JSA Research Inc. in Newport, R.I., said the defect “was probably just another one of these many glitches you run into in the airliner business. The one thing that’s different here is the FAA apparently has come out flat and denied Boeing’s right to deliver these aircraft.”

Harrison said the problem apparently arose in 1993, when workers at its Spokane production plant started using an adhesive to attach insulation to the shield’s waterproof plastic film.

Harrison said the introduction of the adhesive, which did not meet federal flammability standards, “was not adequately communicated internally or to the FAA,” which certifies the design of the aircraft and its parts.

That version of the shield had been included in the 747, 757, 767 and 777 jetliners since some time in 1993, which means it could be in the cockpits of more than 1,110 airplanes, according to Boeing data.

Boeing said it would not stop production but had already started building shields without the adhesive to conform to FAA specifications. The shields, which measure 3 feet by 5 feet on the 747, would take “a few days” to remove and replace under Boeing’s best-case scenario, officials said.

Shares of Boeing slipped $1.25 to close at $43.38 on the New York Stock Exchange.

* Times staff writer James F. Peltz contributed to the report.