Boeing announced it was postponing first flight of the 787 on Tuesday 23 June, citing the need to reinforce structure where the wing box meets the center wing box at the side of body of the aircraft. FlightBlogger takes a closer look at exactly what the problem is and how Boeing came to yesterday's announcement.

Because of the need to go back into the detailed design phase for this fix, combined with the need to fabricate, install and test at component and at full scale levels, several sources with a direct familiarity to the situation estimate that the fix will take "months not weeks."

On his blog Jon Ostrower takes a deeper look at the issues surrounding the latest dalays to the aircraft programme ...

787 wing box

INSIDE THE BLOG:

What is the problem?
Historical Precedent
Timeline
The Fix

Source: FlightGlobal.com