Boeing said the fourth of six 787 test planes has been damaged by an employee at supplier Global Aeronautica

Boeing said the fourth of six 787 test planes has been damaged by an employee at supplier Global Aeronautica. Boeing spokeswoman Yvonne Leach said the company would know “soon” whether the damage, which she declined to describe, will have an impact on the full programme that already faces a delay of at least 14 months. The damaged midbody fuselage section has not yet been transferred from Global Aeronautica’s plant in Charleston, South Carolina, to Boeing’s final assembly line in Everett, Washington. “When we get the section, we will know better about the overall impact”, explained Ms Leach. Harry Nourse, an analyst at Bank of America, wrote in a note that the fourth plane “is an important part of the test flight process” and the incident may extend the flight tests by a month. He added that the 787 needs “a large number of cycles and flight hours” to gain US Federal Aviation Administration certification. Bloomberg (01/07), Suddeutsche Zeitung