27 May - 2 June 2019 | 326 comments (326 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

Exclusive: Boeing seeking to reduce scope, duration of some physical tests for new aircraft - sources

(Reuters) - Boeing Co engineers are reducing the scope and duration of certain costly physical tests used to certify the planemaker's new aircraft, according to industry sources and regulatory officials.
But the strategy could be at risk if regulators and U.S. lawmakers probing two deadly Boeing plane crashes require even more rigorous safety tests before certifying new aircraft as passenger-worthy.
As Boeing kicks off the year-long flight testing process on its new 777X, its engineers will cut hours off airborne testing by using computer models to simulate flight conditions, and then present the results to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as part of the basis for certification, according to two people with direct knowledge of the strategy.

Computer simulations in lieu of real life testing. What could possibly go wrong?

by Bernard (bernard) on Tue Jun 18th, 2019 at 06:49:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Boeing (none / 1)

Depends how good their test suite is.

Of course, we have the answer to that question. They omitted the test case "what happens when the single-point-of-failure sensor fails and feeds the wrong angle of attack into the flap control override algorithm?"

But there is no way you can test, whether by simulation or physically, to detect fundamental design flaws like that one.

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue
- Queen Elizabeth II}

by eurogreen on Wed Jun 19th, 2019 at 10:47:34 AM EST
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27 May - 2 June 2019 | 326 comments (326 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)