Dreamliner/787 Unsafe?

...says a sacked employee. Story here.

[:?]

Hmm.. interesting, but clearly more to that story than meets the eye.

Meanwhile, isn't the 787 the first airliner that uses purely outside air to pump into the cabin, rather than bleeding it in from the engines, cooling it on the way, with no filter or monitoring of the air quality; thus hopefully reducing the allegedly high levels of organophosphates in cabin air?

Interesting. Surely the Company who provides the materials must think its safe otherwise they wouldnt provide it.

Originally posted by virgin crazy
Interesting. Surely the Company who provides the materials must think its safe otherwise they wouldnt provide it.

Hmm, not sure that statement fits generally. How about all those tobacco firms? Do they think their product is safe??

Paul

I was thinking specifically to the company who provides the composites for the a/c but i can see your point.

I'm in seattle at the mo and had a good read of this the other day. Was chatting to a boeing employee who thought different though. Whilst there may be issues in crashes regarding a tin tube or composites, I think there are other things to be worrying about. I'd hope that Boeing mitigate these stories by actually crashing one for fun. I'd pay to watch that!

After talking to a Boeing engineer currently working on the Dreamliner (among other things) I have to say I find the sacked engineer's complaints full of holes.

Without going into detail, I must point out that the main cause of death in a crash, if one survives the initial impact, has usually been the burning of the interior materials used in the plane. This includes seats, bulkheads, carpets, and other items installed after the fuselage is completed. The toxic fumes from the combustion of these items are more fatal than most travelers realize; that's why so many consumer groups recommend travelers purchase and carry smoke hoods.

Composites do splinter, but small enough to be breathed in? One would think any impact forceful enough to shatter the composite so thoroughly would do nasty things to bones and soft tissue. Not to mention the toxic smoke from the seat the pax would be vacating ASAP (if still alive).

Also, if the lightning strike mesh isn't up to standard, this will be borne out in testing long before the plane ever takes on one paying pax.

If he was so concerned about the Dreamliner, why did he wait until he was sacked to make such a fuss? There's an internal unit at Boeing which handles all such complaints - and it's taken very seriously when an engineer makes such allegations.

Sometimes the words former employee say it all!