US Opens New Boeing Inquiry

The US has opened a new inquiry into troubled jet firm Boeing, after the company told air safety regulators that it might not have properly inspected its 787 Dreamliner planes.

The Federal Aviation Administration, FAA, said it would look into whether staff had falsified records.

It said Boeing was re-inspecting all 787 jets on the manufacturing line.

The FAA added that Boeing will be forced to develop an “action plan” to address concerns about planes already in service.

Boeing did not comment.

In the meantime, Nasa officials say Boeing’s first crewed space flight was postponed for a safety check on Monday, just two hours before launch.

Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were already in position inside the Starliner when the decision to halt was made because of a potential issue with an oxygen relief valve in the Atlas rocket run by the United Launch Alliance, ULA.

There was no issue with Boeing’s Starliner Spacecraft which sits on top of the rocket.

Flight engineers discovered that the valve had been rapidly opening and closing in the period before launch and so the countdown was aborted.

The flight team is currently examining the data to see how much energy was expended by the valve.

If it has exceeded its operational life it will need to be replaced, which ULA say its engineers can do in a few days.

The spacecraft had been expected to blast off from Cape Canaveral in Florida and make its way to the International Space Station.

Boeing said in a post on social media that the soonest a new launch attempt may be made is on Friday.