Quote:
Originally Posted by glyn
Boeing was clearly at fault with non-spec and sub-standard components being used in the assembly.
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Ahem, It was McDonnell, not Boeing.
I highly doubt this is a case of intentional use of bad parts. All structural components get inspected when they are built, several times by several different people. If a part is outside of design tolerance, it gets MRB tagged and submitted to the engineers for evaluation. The claim is that the part was thin, but how thin? .001"?
It's possible that there was a run of parts that might have been at minimum material condition and were approved by engineering. Cracks on high-time frames are not uncommon, especially considering the service conditions these things get.
It's always a tradeoff between weight and performance.