It's only been a few months since the Boeing 787 Dreamliner flew off the ground after a three-year delay and already there is a concern. Boeing says it discovered a problem with the body of the plane known as the fuselage and is in the process of making repairs. The plane maker says there are no short-term safety concerns.
Japan's All Nippon Airways, the first customer to fly the plane, says it has done reviews and the aircraft will fly as normal. But the plane is under scrutiny because it is the world's first commercial airplane made mostly of lightweight carbon composites, which increases fuel efficiency. Main rival Airbus recently had to deal with wing cracks on its A380 superjumbo jet. Boeing was quick to say the repairs will not impact the production schedule for the 787. The company is hoping to ramp up production to 10 a month by the end of next year, in hopes of making up for lost time after that multi-year delay. There are more than 800 orders for the new plane, but Boeing only gets paid with the planes are actually delivered to air carriers, and ready to go up in the air.
Conway Gittens, Reuters
