Boeing's 737 Max jets, already the Ford Pinto of narrow-body airframes, have a new problem: "mis-drilled holes." The good news is that it's been identified at the factory instead of amid corpse-strewn wreckage on the side of a mountain.
The problem was disclosed in a memo sent to Boeing (BA) employees Sunday by Stan Deal, the head of the company's commercial aircraft unit. An employee at Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems, which makes the fuselages of the 737 Max jets, notified the plane maker that two holes may not have been drilled exactly to Boeing's requirements, according to Deal's memo.
"While this potential condition is not an immediate flight safety issue and all 737's can continue operating safely, we currently believe we will have to perform rework on about 50 undelivered airplanes,"it said.
You never want mis-drilled holes. All holes must be well-drilled. "In a cost-cutting move, Boeing has been increasingly depending on suppliers in recent years to assemble key parts of its aircraft," helpfully explains CNN.
Previously: I finally know what the little holes in the pizza box are for
