Boeing 787 Dreamliner: Composite Airframe May Be Unsafe?

     A former employee Vince Weldon of Boeing claims that the new carbon-composite airframe of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner may be unsafe. who had worked for Boeing for 46 years claims in an interview with journalist Dan Rather that he was fired in 2006 because he pointed out safety glitches in relation to this new breakthrough technology to be used widely in the construction of the Dreamliner (composite is to replace aluminium in the body frame of the airliner

Advantages of Design:

 

• Guarantee weight reduction (thus increased fuel efficiency and less environmental harm)

•  Possibility of more humidity in the passenger cabin, which would reduce the effects of flying on the       human  body. At the time when he was laid off.

Risks of its design:

 

• The brittle carbon-composite compounds based airframe would break much easier than the traditional, more flexible aluminium aircraft body in an emergency landing for example (more likely to shatter on any impact actually.

• If ignited and catching fire, it would omit poisonous and toxic gases and chemicals while burning,

•   The fuselage is less resistant to lightnings while flying,

•   Any damages are harder to see and visually locate.

Advantage of conventional Alluminium aircraft:

Risks would reduce the chance of survival in case of an accident involving any of the above described situations.

In 2007 a McDonnel Douglas airplane has broken in two and caught fire during an (emergency) landing in Thailand, claiming 88 deaths and leaving 42 survivors who could escape the burning airplane – so such a situation can happen with a traditionally built aluminium aircraft as well unfortunately, but the risk of such a situation largely increases by the usage of composite materials.

 

Who is this Vincent A. Weldon ?

 

Vincent A. Weldon is an American aerospace engineer, having designed critical components for the Apollo moon mission, as well as the Space Shuttle.

Weldon joined Boeing in 1960, in what was a 46-year career with the firm. He was first involved in the wing design of the Boeing 727 airliner, a design that incorporated high-lift devices such as triple-slotted flaps, which enabled the 727 to be one of the first jet aircraft capable of operating from relatively short runways.

Vince Weldon's experience in the use of composite materials led to him being asked by Boeing to research how advanced composites could be used to build its next generation passenger airliner, the 787 Dreamliner Weldon told Boeing management that the carbon fiber-reinforced plastic material which was being used to construct the Boeing 787 Dreamliner was unsafe, and less safe than a conventional aluminium aircraft. Boeing fired Weldon in July 2006.

Weldon detailed his concerns about the 787 airliner in a letter he wrote to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). He also criticised the FAA's guidelines for composite airliners, saying they do not go far enough to guarantee passenger safety on the 787.

Maximum portion of the structure is composite

 

 

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