5/15/2009
NEWS BRIEFS
SPS Sued Over Uncoated Nutplates
Boeing contractor claims fasteners lacked cadmium coating
Aerospace contractor Spirit AeroSystems sued SPS Technologies over 500,000 defective nutplates for Boeing jets, the Wichita Eagle reports. The lawsuit names SPS and parent company Precision Castparts Corp.
According to the suit, Spirit discovered in August 2008 that as many as 30% of the nutplates lacked a cadmium coating to prevent corrosion. Precision Castparts reportedly has acknowledged the problem, which required lab testing to confirm. Spirit returned the unused fasteners to SPS.
“Spirit notified Boeing in August and sent crews to the plants in Seattle to inspect the planes and replace the nutplates in jets still in Boeing’s control,” writes Dan Voorhis of the Eagle. “The nutplates on planes that have been sold will be replaced during maintenance.”
The problem caused the delivery delay of one aircraft, and Boeing reportedly has indicted it will seek to collect on the parts’ extended warranties.
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