"The Car that saved Ford Motor Company in the 1980's from going bankrupt"

 I have a list of articles that populate my window when I open my "Edge" browser and I scan it to see if there is something interesting and sometimes there is and this article from "TopSpeed" caught my eye because it mentioned the "Ford Taurus", anybody that has been following me for a long time know that I used to work for Ford Motor Company, Atlanta Assembly, we built the Taurus, Sable and the Wagon and the only plant that built the SHO. I had blogged about the "Taurus" extensively also many post about "Ford" some will cross over and some will not, if you have time, surf through those, there is some good nuggets in there and some well unrelated stuff.   I still have a really soft spot for the Ford Taurus, I called her "America's Car", and she was my favorite car. and she went from America's darling to the staple of the rental fleet, Ford was focused on the SUV's and Trucks and let their cars slide, in my mind, it was a short-sighted business decision. so, the Taurus went from cutting edge sedan to the rental fleet darling, it was a fall from grace in the automotive world that was unprecedented.  The car could have done so much more than she did, but the short sighted bean counters torpedoed the cars at the behest of "Jack The Knife" who was building a marque of premium brands and didn't want Ford cars competing with the "Premium Auto Group" that is why in my opinion is why he killed the SHO, why get the SHO that can beats the pants off any premium sedan that cost $20,000  more and was just as well equipped.  and they put the Taurus and Sable on the backburner and the car languished.  I had seen the preproduction photo's and preproduction cars, we got...what we actually to build was nothing like the preproduction models, they were much cheaper in "looks", made me feel bad for the new models. and the car languished and eventually got cut at the end of the production run after the Gen IV update.

The Model That Saved The Ford Motor Company From Bankruptcy In The 1980s© Provided by TopSpeed

• Ford Taurus revolutionized American car design in the 1980s, saving the company from major financial losses and launching it into the future.
• The Taurus sold record numbers and became a hit among consumers due to its sleek and futuristic design, efficient engine, and snappy handling.

• Despite its initial success, the Taurus eventually fell out of popularity due to poor design choices and increasing competition, but it will always be remembered as a game changer in the automotive world.

Ford had really found themselves in a pickle during the 1980s, as bad publicity and lackluster vehicle design hindered their popularity, especially when compared to the popular JDM imports of the era. The boxy, straight-edged American design was outdated and unappealing to look at, not to mention that American vehicles were increasingly inefficient at the time. This all resulted in major income losses over the first half of the decade.

Desperately needing a home run, the production design departments all came together to create a new model from the ground up. Incorporating modern aerodynamic design and a cohesive structure, the Ford Taurus emerged as the car of the future. Some folks at Ford even worried it was too futuristic for consumers, and thankfully, they were wrong.

The Taurus sold record numbers in the first three years and literally launched Ford out of debt. Iconic models, including the SHO, came from the success attained by the original 1986 Ford Taurus, and the Blue Oval rode that high for as long as they could. Poor design and increasing foreign competition saw the Taurus eventually sink into obscurity, but for a brief period, the Taurus ruled the automotive world.

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In order to give you the most up-to-date and accurate information possible, the data used to compile this article was sourced from various manufacturer websites and other authoritative sources; Ford, Ford Media Center, J.D. Power, and Car And Driver.

Ford's Rough Patch

At the start of the 1980s, Ford was experiencing a steady decline in sales and was falling further behind the Japanese import competition. By that time, models like the Honda Accord became a best-seller in North America. This is due in part to the sleek and sporty design, but also the efficiency and road manners of the smaller, more agile imports.

The American way of designing automobiles was dated, as were the powertrains and components. This was a time when high interest rates held back bigger models, so Ford was looking to replace the big, boxy LTD with a more economical and customer-friendly model. The only option at this point was a Hail Mary, and it couldn't have come at a more crucial time.

Henry Ford II was on his way to retirement, as were the old ways of designing Ford's models. New management brought about a new team dynamic that decreased the inner-department competition and increased design cohesiveness. This resulted in a more reliable and well-built vehicle, i.e. the Taurus.

Covering A $1,000,000,000 Tab

The Taurus debuted at the Los Angeles Auto Show in 1985, introducing Ford's new mid-size sedan. The 1986 Ford Taurus sported futuristic design elements, including a tapered front end, sporty character lines, and a peppy attitude. The Taurus was also more efficient than the previous sedans Ford had produced, making it an instant hit among consumers.

At the time of its release, Ford Motor Co. was over a billion dollars in debt and sinking. The Taurus was Ford's attempt to win back the domestic market by dissecting the trends of the era, as well as pushing the brand into the future, and it paid off in a major way. The Taurus sold 1,000,000 units in the first three years and over 2,000,000 in the first generation alone, effectively putting Ford back on the map and opening an entirely new avenue for domestic automakers.

Taurus' Instant Success

It didn't take long for dealerships across the U.S. to sell out of their Taurus offerings, as everyone wanted in on the sleek, futuristic Ford. The mid-sized sedan boasted excellent handling and power, which was delivered to the front wheels, and the fuel economy was comparable to its import counterparts.

This was the first time an American automaker had taken a chance on a vehicle that broke the mold of classic American styling and attitude, but it definitely wouldn't be the last, as brands eventually started following suit and developing economic models that focused on practical, everyday life, while retaining a modern sense of style.

1986 Ford Taurus Key Design Features

• "Bottom Feeder" style front end
• Lighter construction
• Modern design language
• Less chrome and sharp edges

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What Made The Taurus A Hit?

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The Taurus was something completely new to North American design, so naturally, it garnered a lot of attention from domestic markets and the media. Its appeal only went up when customers realized that the futuristic qualities exuded by the appearance also applied to the mechanical makeup of the Taurus.

The efficient engine and snappy handling made it a must-have among the average consumers and, with a starting MSRP of $9,645, the Taurus was an undeniably strong mid-size competitor. It was even offered in wagon form for those in need of more cargo space.

Power And Handling Meets Fuel Efficiency

The 1986 Ford Taurus was offered with a humble 2.5-liter HSC four-cylinder that only put out 90 horsepower. Though not incredible, the power was fairly on par with economy sedans of the era, it also boasted better fuel economy than the current domestic sedan models.

An optional upgrade added a Vulcan V-6, which put out 140 horsepower, but the next significant power bump would come in the 1988 model year, where the Taurus was offered with a 3.8-liter fuel-injected Essex V-6 that produced 200 horsepower. This would be the catalyst for one of the most revered Taurus models of all time, the SHO.

Handling-wise, the Taurus was nimble and snappy. This was thanks to independent suspension and MacPherson struts, which allowed the mid-size sedan to tip-toe through tight slaloms and confidently tackle sharp turns. The front-wheel drive Taurus was offered with a three-speed automatic transmission, which proved to be enough gears for the daily driver.

The Ford Taurus SHO

Undoubtedly, the most revered model to wear the Taurus name is the 1988 Ford Taurus SHO, which stands for Super High Output. Ford dropped a Yamaha 3.0-liter V-6 DOHC with a sweet variable length intake manifold. The souped-up Taurus delivered 220 horsepower to a five-speed manual transmission developed by Mazda.

1989 Ford Taurus SHO Performance Specs

Engine	3.0-liter V-6
Horsepower	220
Torque	200 pound-feet
Transmission	Five-speed manual,
Driveline	FWD
Curb Weight	3,348 pounds
0-60 MPH	6.7 seconds
Top Speed	143 MPH

(Source: Car And Driver road test)

The Yamaha 3.0-liter engine was originally developed for a mid-engine two-seater set to compete with the Pontiac Fiero and Toyota MR2, but when the concept failed to see production, the powertrain went to the Taurus.

The SHO was supposed to be a limited production car, but Ford milked its popularity, producing over 100,000 examples in its 10-year lifespan. It eventually lost popularity as it failed to impress in the 1990s models. However, later down the line in 2013, the SHO experienced a rebirth, featuring a saucy 365-horsepower twin-turbo EcoBoost V-6 and an updated appearance.

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Why The Ford Taurus Is A Disliked Car Today

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Though the trusty Taurus lifted Ford Motor Co. up from the abyss of debt, its popularity was not meant to last in the long run. The second generation, though totally redesigned, simply didn't improve the overall appearance or ability. This is where Taurus' star began to dwindle. But even with fading popularity, the Taurus still became the best-selling vehicle in North America in 1992, prying it from the hands of the Honda Accord.

Third-gen design changes brought on the bubblier, sluggish Taurus of the late 1990s, which really didn't sell well among consumers, as it was, well... ugly. This inevitably made the third-gen Taurus the quintessential fleet car, only seeing action as company loaners or rental service options.

The fourth generation deviated from the jelly bean appearance, but it simply wasn't enough to put the Taurus back on top, as its reputation as a futuristic, sleek sedan had long gone. Ford briefly retired the Taurus nameplate in 2007 when work began on a mid-size, full-size, and crossover model to fill out Ford's offerings. This path was short-walked, coming to an end when sales of the Ford Fusion, Five Hundred, and Freestyle failed to meet expectations.

Return Of The Mack (Taurus)

Ford's lackluster lineup ended and was repackaged as the fifth-gen Taurus and Taurus X, yet there wasn't anything special that came with the name change, except maybe bad memories, as it's hard to forget the previous two generation Taurus' hideous appearances. 2010 brought a redesigned sixth-gen Taurus, and this model struck a little better with consumers, as it incorporated modern tech and a new design for the now full-size Taurus.

The sixth-gen Taurus featured a 263 horsepower 3.5-liter V-6, which would receive a modification in 2013, to which it then produced 288 horses. In 2016, the Taurus SHO was brought back with a twin-turbocharged EcoBoost V-6 that put out 365 horsepower. A Taurus Police Interceptor was produced soon after and featured a 3.7-liter V-6 which made 305 horsepower. However, an upgraded Police Interceptor, which featured the 2013 SHO powertrain, became available, which is likely the most ridiculous Taurus to ever roll off the factory floor.

The Taurus' Last Ride

The last Taurus rolled off the assembly line on March 1st, 2019, marking the end of an era. The story of the Taurus is packed with rich lore, make-or-break moments, and huge leaps in automotive advancement. No matter your background or upbringing, most folks have come in contact with a Taurus. In fact, it's Ford's fifth best-selling vehicle, behind the F-150, Escort, Model T, and Mustang.

Ford produced 8,000,000 examples in a 34-year production run, which was almost continuous. After it captured the best-selling car in North America in 1992, it held the title for five years. This not only pulled Ford out of debt but helped them regain public sentiment, further allowing Ford to rise above the competition in the years following the Taurus' heyday.

  This pic was in my stash I have had for years, one of the engineers gave it to me.  It was a preproduction model to replace the Thunderbird coupe. but it got killed by upper management.  I loved that car pic as "what could have been". but for the short sightedness of upper management at Ford at the time.

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"I'm a Muslim, I don't support terrorism nor hate other religions, there are thousands like me, yet people always stereotype that Muslim = terrorist?..........."

 We came back from our cruise and it was great!  The ship was big but it didn't feel big, so I wasn't "peopled" out like normal.  I will post a bit about it tomorrow.

     I saw this one on quora while I was at the airport waiting for the plane. I ordered the book.

Mark Roseman wrote the response.

I'm a Muslim, I don't support terrorism nor hate other religions, there are thousands like me, yet people always stereotype that Muslim = terrorist and Islam is (a religion of hatred and not peace). Why is that?

So glad you asked. After the 9/11 attacks, Americans were screaming, Who are these people? Muslims, we were told. President George W. Bush did everything he could to keep the lid on, to prevent a violent reaction against Muslim Americans. But Muslim Americans were strangely silent in their own defense. Oh yes, they said a few perfunctory things about a religion of peace, but it was not with the intensity or conviction we expected, and hardly credible.

Several books came out to help Americans understand Islam. A good one is The Crisis of Islam, by Bernard Lewis. If you are wondering why Americans think Islam is the religion of the sword, and a religion that has not progressed from the Dark Ages, get a copy and find out. Americans were asking themselves, What is a Caliphate? Are these people serious? As the years went by we learned about Sharia law and viewed clips of Taliban enforcers whipping women in the streets. Not exactly good PR for Islam.

While only a small percentage of Muslims may be terrorists, we fear the Muslim community is a breeding ground and a haven for them.

How many Muslims have publicly criticized the barbarity of the attacks against Israel, and I mean the rapes and acts of gratuitous sadism? All we hear are excuses. Where was the outcry from the Muslim community after the Boston Marathon bombing? One of the perpetrators, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was an immigrant who became an American citizen and was later radicalized here. Hey, thanks, buddy. How many more of you are out there looking just as cute and innocent as you do?

He was captured and later explained that had he escaped, he and his brother had planned another bombing for Times Square. If you are an American citizen, how do you commit acts like that against other Americans? It is fair to assume he expected praise from other Muslims.

Maybe you are afraid to speak out? Maybe you don’t want to suffer the fate of Salman Rushdie, living in hiding with a fatwa on his head for writing a book critical of Islam. What is the civilized world to think of Islam when one of its leaders calls for the assassination of a writer—and moderate Muslims don’t say anything?

You wrote, “I don’t support terrorism.” That is not the same as speaking out against it. Do you view acts of Islamic terrorism as murder? If you were on a jury, would you find the terrorists guilty and vote for the death penalty? Anything less tells me you are part of the problem.

FAA Forms inspection teams to scan data from the affected Aircraft,

 I will be going out of town for a week so I will be "out of pocket" as they say, and I won't be able to check anything until Monday.  The spousal Unit and I are going on a cruise and it will be warmer than it is here,,,so I am excited :)

Credit: Alaska Airlines

Data from 40 Boeing 737-9 door plug assembly inspections conducted by Alaska Airlines and United Airlines is in the hands of an FAA team of subject-matter experts tasked with determining whether the work is sufficient to clear grounded aircraft for revenue service.

The 40 checks, done in recent days based on a preliminary set of Boeing instructions, will be reviewed by FAA experts with specific knowledge of the plug door, its potential hazards, and broader maintenance practices, sources with knowledge of the process told Aviation Week.

Neither the FAA nor Boeing will discuss the process or speculate on how long the inspection review will take.

Alaska and United have 65 and 79 door plug-equipped 737-9s on the ground following a Jan. 5 inflight loss of a plug from an Alaska 737-9. Alaska pulled its aircraft immediately after the occurrence, while the FAA ordered the affected fleet grounded via a Jan. 6 emergency airworthiness directive (AD).

Complying with the AD’s order to inspect and correct any issues requires FAA-approved instructions from Boeing. The 40 checks are FAA’s first step in a deliberate process to determine what operators must do to ensure affected 737-9s are safe.

The NTSB is investigating the Jan. 5 occurrence onboard Alaska Flight 1282 in which the left-side mid cabin exit door plug tore free as the 737-9 was climbing out of Portland, Oregon. The crew immediately declared an emergency and returned to Portland. None of the 176 occupants reported serious injuries.

The plug’s separation caused an immediate depressurization of the cabin and significant damage to interior parts, such as seats and seat frames, the NTSB said. No structural damage was reported.

Investigators have not officially linked the Alaska occurrence to problems subsequently found on other aircraft, including loose hardware, during preliminary post-grounding inspections. But statements by the FAA and Boeing suggest supply chain missteps linked to preliminary inspection findings, including non-conforming work at fuselage manufacturer Spirit AeroSystems and gaps in Boeing’s quality assurance process, likely contributed to Flight 1282’s emergency.

The FAA’s review will cover immediate actions needed to ensure the plug assemblies—which cover exit door gaps cut into every 737-9 fuselage that are not needed for lower-capacity seating configurations—meet Boeing’s approved design standards. The agency is also expected to review the door plug design to determine if any changes are needed to mitigate risks spotlighted by Flight 1282.

Broader reviews of 737-9 production and Boeing’s supply chain oversight are also underway. Boeing said it is working to identify any problems linked to the door plug issue or other production quality shortcomings.

Boeing asks retired Navy Admiral to head up a group to look into the plug issues.

 I Saw this, looks like Boeing is trying to be proctive, but my opinion is that they let the bean counters run the company rather than the engineers as in the days of old and now they are having a lot of problems.   

Credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images

 

 

 

Boeing has tapped retired U.S. Navy Admiral Kirk Donald, a former director of the branch’s nuclear propulsion program, to lead an independent review of the company’s quality system and supplier oversight.

The review, announced Jan. 15 in a company-wide message from Boeing Commercial Airplanes President Stan Deal, will examine Boeing’s commercial airplane quality management, including “quality programs and practices in Boeing manufacturing facilities” as well as its supplier quality oversight. The team’s report and recommendations will go to Boeing’s top management and board, the company said.

Donald is no stranger to high-profile investigations. During his tenure as Director of Navy Nuclear Propulsion, he was tasked with leading a 2008 U.S. Defense Department probe into the mistaken shipments of four Tomahawk missile nose cones to Taiwan.

The Donald-led review is one of several steps Boeing is taking to ease both customer and regulatory concerns in the wake of the Jan. 5 Alaska Airlines 737-9 in-flight loss of an exit door plug and subsequent grounding of similarly configured 737-9s. Boeing will also bring customers in for inspections of its 737 production process, both at Boeing and major supplier Spirit AeroSystems, which builds the 737 fuselage sections and exit door plugs.

While the NTSB has yet to release any information to explain the Jan. 5 occurrence, statements out of Boeing and the FAA suggest both believe mistakes by Spirit that led to the broader 737-9 groundings may have played a role in the Alaska accident.

Boeing also is stepping up its own quality inspection efforts, both internally and at Spirit. A separate review of Spirit’s exit door plug work is also underway, as is scrutiny of “more than 50 other points in Spirit’s build process,” Deal wrote, with special attention being paid to “assessing their build plans against engineering specifications.”

As part of the increased focus on Spirit, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun will head to Wichita to join Spirit AeroSystems CEO Pat Shanahan and other Spirit executives in a meeting with 737 program employees Jan. 17. The event will include Boeing employees who work in Wichita or are assigned there as part of the stepped-up scrutiny, sources with knowledge of the plans confirmed to Aviation Week.

Boeing’s moves come on the heels of FAA’s stepped-up scrutiny of the 737-9 program. The agency on Jan. 12 said it would audit the 737-9 production line and suppliers “to evaluate Boeing’s compliance with its approved quality procedures.” The findings “will determine whether additional audits are necessary,” the agency said. It is also stepping up monitoring of 737-9 in-service events.

Bigger picture, the agency said it will consider whether certain aspects of Boeing’s delegation program and quality oversight granted by the FAA would benefit from being under “independent, third-party entities” instead of agreed-upon leaders within Boeing and other applicants.

“It is time to re-examine the delegation of authority and assess any associated safety risks,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said. “The grounding of the 737-9 and the multiple production-related issues identified in recent years require us to look at every option to reduce risk. The FAA is exploring the use of an independent third party to oversee Boeing’s inspections and its quality system.”

Meanwhile, the FAA and Boeing will evaluate inspection results from 40 737-9s to determine what steps operators must take to ensure door plugs are safe to operate. It is not clear when the inspections and review will be done or when affected 737-9s will be cleared to return to service.

“After reviewing Boeing’s proposed inspection and maintenance instructions, the FAA determined it needed additional data before approving them,” the agency said as part of announcing its plan to evaluate data from the 40 checks. “The FAA is encouraged by the exhaustive nature of Boeing’s instructions for inspections and maintenance. However, in the interest of maintaining the highest standard of safety the agency will not approve the inspection and maintenance process until it reviews data from the initial round of 40 inspections.

A Response to the Liberal College Student about the War in Gaza

 

My apologies for not posting sooner, I have been very busy at work, Overtime is wide open at my employer, the B737 plug debacle doesn't affect us, our 737-900's are a bit older than the FAA mandates so they are way outside the range of possibles.

     I was taking a microbreak and saw this response on Quora on the Can, and it was a good response, so I shamelessly nicked it. if someone out there in internet land decides to use it against a blue hair liberal, have at it, entertain yourself, LOL. 

   A dude from Seattle (Yeah I'm shocked) wrote the response. Theo Edmonds.

Israel’s committing the worst atrocities I’ve ever witnessed. Clearly, they’re using the Hamas attack as an excuse to mass murder Palestinians. Who will stop them? Is there anything we can do? What should be done?

I think you are very confused.

Let me guess: you go to an elite college, have green and purple hair, tats and piercings, change your pronoun daily, bought a “Palestinian” flag on Amazon while sipping your Frappuccino at Starbucks and thought Israel was spelled “Isreal” just 6 weeks ago.

You live in a cocoon and your parents would be ashamed of you.

Do you know not 10,000 but 100,000 civilians were killed or permanently displaced in Azerbaijan just four days before the October 7 attack on Israel? A group of Armenians who had lived there peacefully for decades wanted to secede. The Azerbaijanis weren’t going to give up land and swore to their genocide. The last 100,000 abandoned their homes and left (I repeat) four days before the October 7 attack. You didn’t give a shit.

In June 2022 the UN finally tallied the number of deaths in Yemen by Saudis in defense against Iran-controlled Houthi terrorists: 150,000 killed and another 227,000 dead due to cutting off all food and healthcare services for years. The Saudis don’t fuck around - if they get attacked, all hell breaks loose. Again, just 16 months ago. You didn’t give a shit.

You probably don’t know this but right next door to Israel, in Syria, their leader, Bashir Al-Assad had his own civilians killed. Many with chemical weapons. As of March this year, the UN counted 613,000 killed, 15.3 million displaced. Again, right next door to Israel. And again, you didn’t give a shit.

I could go on and on.

But you didn’t care. You don’t care.

All you care about is feeling good about yourself - virtue signaling - and protesting night after night - from the river to the sea, globalize the intifada - without an inkling of why and what it means. You and your racist professors at your liberal arts school, drawing T-charts and labeling Jews as “oppressors”. Believe me, your professor who taught you that knew exactly what they were doing. The Arab students who got you involved knew exactly what they were doing. You were the one who had no clue.

Next time you attend a protest, look around. You’ll see an unnatural number of “brown-skinned” people. Much higher that the typical population. Most you will not know. The ones you do probably aren’t in any of your classes. Know why? They were planted there. They aren’t students. They are funded by Qatar and Saudi Arabia to stir up easily swayed liberals like yourself. The same groups funded your professors and paid for middle eastern studies departments which didn’t exist just a few years ago. Aren’t those the professors who discussed T-charts and listed for you the oppressed (the 2.1 BILLION MUSLIMS who span 15,000 miles from Marrakesh to Jakarta) and the oppressors (the 15 million Jews, most in tiny Israel)? Sound familiar?

I’m not over exaggerating when I say this is chaos vs civilization. This is a group of internationally recognized terrorists, attached to the same group who attacked the US on 9–11 (look it up), France, the UK, Belgium, Netherlands and almost every other western country. This time they’re targeting a tiny global minority of 15 million people who share an outsized amount of goodwill to humankind around the world, who have been oppressed, attacked, exiled for thousands of years. Half of them were killed just 80 years ago in an event called the Holocaust (look that up as well).

And you have been brainwashed to think this tiny oppressed minority, who just kept trying to survive, is the oppressor? This tiny group who removed all their citizens from Gaza 18 years ago and left it for the Gazans, including an industry and economy and a gorgeous coastline to turn it into the Dubai of the Mediterranean. And instead used it as a terrorist staging areas for an estimated 50,000 rockets aimed at civilians. And the scariest thing is if you went to visit them, with your green and purple hair and tattoos and piercings, they’d take you to the nearest rooftop and push you off (look it up).

No, that narrative that Israel stole their land isn’t true either. Israel was given the land by the UN just like Syria, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon. Before they were countries they were controlled by the foreign Turkish - you know, from Turkey - for 500 years called the Ottoman Empire (look it up). The land wasn’t anyone’s until after World War I (look it up) and given to them the Arab groups freely. Except Israel, where a day after the UN gave the land to them, all those Arab countries attacked this nascent country with the intent to genocide - sorry, “unalive” - them all and take their land and divide it up between themselves. Yes, you got it - there was never going to be a Palestinian land even then when their own Arab sister and brothers were trying to seize control. I could go on and on about how a million Jews were displaced from across the 7000 mile Arab world in retaliation for the Arabs losing that genocidal war they started, and Israel took those million refugees in, yet the Palestinians still fester.

These people are not your friends. They do not want to defund the police. These “brown skinned people” outnumber the Israelis 140:1 (who more than half of Israelis are from the Middle East - see ‘refugees’, above). Let me repeat that number: 140:1. And here’s another: Muslim countries to Jewish countries: 50:1. And weirdly, over 20% of the Israeli population is Arab with full rights and benefits, so the claim of apartheid is a lie as well.

Shame on you and your friends who are promoting rape, kidnapping, torture and murder. Shame on you for promoting anti-LGBTQ and intolerance. And shame on you for being so easily brainwashed. Never have there been such racist attacks and protests against such a tiny minority in the US since black slavery.

And the next attack won’t be Tel Aviv. Globalize the intifada means these people want to expand extremist Islam around the world. They will be bringing the rapes, torture, burning civilians alive and murder to your front doorstep next.

FAA Grounds a bunch of B737-9 series of Aircraft

Word on the street is that "Spirit_AeroSystems", is having a lot of quality control issues relating to labor unrest, and this is biting Boeing in the tushie right now.

I got this article from a 3rd party email from work.

A photo released by NTSB shows the Alaska Airlines 737-9 missing the fuselage plug and window section in the deactivated left-hand mid-emergency door.

Credit: NTSB

The FAA has ordered immediate inspections of certain Boeing 737-9s following the Jan. 5 inflight loss of an insert covering a door-sized space in the fuselage for an optional emergency exit during an Alaska Airlines flight.

Meanwhile, the door "plug" that detached from the aircraft has been found as part of an investigation into the incident, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said Jan. 7. In a late briefing Homendy said NTSB is looking into an auto-pressurization fail light on board that had illuminated three times in recent weeks.  

A Jan. 6 emergency airworthiness directive (EAD) orders immediate inspections of aircraft with the inserts, or plugs, that deactivate the exits. The EAD provides few details on the issue or its cause. It says the mandatory checks are necessary following "a report of an in-flight departure of a mid-cabin door plug, which resulted in a rapid decompression of the airplane."

Credit: NTSB

The FAA in a statement said the EAD covers 171 of the 218 737-9s delivered by Boeing to date. The checks apply to 737-9s with plugs that have not yet reached 4,000 cycles, sources with knowledge of the issue tell Aviation Week. The cycle limit is linked to a threshold for routine inspections of the affected area, the sources said.

Inspections will take up to 8 hr. per aircraft, the agency said.

Boeing is developing recommended inspection protocols to comply with the directive. Once the agency reviews and approves them, operators can start inspecting aircraft, United Airlines said in a Jan. 7 update. United said it is preparing for the checks by removing interior panels to prepare aircraft for checks. United has 79 737-9s and all of them need the checks.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency immediately adopted FAA's directive for affected European aircraft.

“The FAA is requiring immediate inspections of certain Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes before they can return to flight,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said.

Boeing in a statement said it supports the FAA's decision "to require immediate inspections of 737-9 airplanes with the same configuration as the affected airplane."

Alaska opted to ground and inspect its entire Boeing 737-9 fleet following the Jan. 5 occurrence, which took place on a flight from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California.

Flight 1282 departed at 4:52 p.m. PST.  About 10 min into the flight as the aircraft was climbing through FL160 (16,000 ft.), a fuselage "plug" covering the gap where an optional emergency exit fits broke free. The aircraft experienced a rapid decompression. The flight crew declared an emergency and returned to Portland where the aircraft, with 171 passengers and six crew, landed safely.

NTSB Update

In weekend briefings Homendy confirmed the basic event timeline and provided a few new details. She confirmed that the two seats next to the ruptured plug were not occupied at the time of the accident.

The unoccupied seats and timing of the event—during climb, when passengers are often seated and belted in, instead of during cruise, when both passengers and cabin attendants are moving around—minimized the risk, Homendy suggested. Another lucky element in the accident sequence: the departing plug did not strike any part of the airframe or tail assembly.

An NTSB team spent Jan. 7 documenting damage, deformation and witness marks on the left plug surround structure in situ, Homendy said. The team took photos and examined witness marks looking for paint transfer and identified the components they want to send back to the lab for further evaluation.  

Credit: NTSB

“They’ll look for fractures, they’ll look at more paint marks, if anything was sheared or if there was any deformation they may be able to see it better under the microscope,” she said.  

The team also plans to look at the door plug that remains intact in the fuselage.  

The NTSB wants to look more closely at auto-pressurization fail light that illuminated on three previous flights in December and January.  

Those three events were reported as “benign” occurrences by the airline, Homendy said. Further maintenance work to look into the light had been planned but not yet carried out by the time of the Jan. 5 incident. An E-TOPS restriction had been put in place preventing the aircraft being used on routes to Hawaii over the water so that it could return quickly to an airport if the light came on again.  

The NTSB has requested documentation of any maintenance carried out on the aircraft since it was delivered in October.  

“We will want to look into that system further,” Homendy said. "It’s certainly a concern and one we want to dig into and look at what occurred there and if there is any relation at all or correlation on this event, we don’t know that at this time. It may have nothing to do with the auto-pressurization system, it could be something just wrong with the light.”  

The NTSB has sent the aircraft’s flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder to its lab but has established that the CVR was completely rewritten so will not provide any information for the investigation.  

After the end of the late Jan. 7 briefing Homendy returned to disclose that the plug had been found.

A schoolteacher named Bob from Portland, Oregon, found the door plug in his backyard and sent in photos to the NTSB, Homendy said. NTSB would soon begin analyzing what had been a key missing component of the investigation, she said.  

"We have the safest aviation system in the world," Homendy said. "We are the global gold standard for safety around the world. But we have to maintain that standard. We are very, very fortunate here that this didn't end up in something more tragic."

Plug Configuration

Photos released by NTSB show the aircraft is missing the fuselage plug and window section in the deactivated left-hand mid-emergency door (MED), sometimes referred to as a mid-exit door. The 737-9 has two of these Type 1 MEDs, each measuring 26 x 51 in., located aft of the trailing edge of the wing on the left and right sides of the fuselage.

When activated, the additional emergency exit doors enable higher-capacity configurations for up to 220 passengers. However, as Alaska does not operate the 737-9 in these denser seating arrangements, the MED exits are blocked off with plugs to save weight. The plug configuration limits capacity to 189 passengers; Alaska's 737-9s have 178 seats.

The plug configuration—one of two options Boeing offers to deactivate MED exits on a 737-9—incorporates a standard window and is concealed behind a cabin interior sidewall panel section.

The plugs and surrounding fuselage section are supplied by Spirit AeroSystems, which remains under scrutiny for numerous production-quality lapses on 737 and 787 subassemblies—its two largest programs.

Diagram of a Boeing 737-9 mid-cabin door plug and components. Credit: Boeing via NTSB

United Airlines also operates 737-9s with the blocked exits and is affected by the FAA order.

Boeing said it is in communication with Alaska and gathering more information. It is supporting the NTSB's probe.

Before the FAA's mandate, Alaska said each of the 65 affected aircraft would undergo full maintenance and safety inspections, which the carrier expects will be complete “in the next few days," CEO Ben Minicucci said in a statement.

“We are working with Boeing and regulators to understand what occurred tonight, and will share updates as more information is available,” he added.

Alaska reviewed its maintenance records said 18 of its 737-9s had undergone routine, scheduled inspections that included examinations of the plug assembly before the in-flight occurrence. The airline initially cleared those aircraft in service, but removed them when the FAA order was issued.

"These aircraft have now also been pulled from service until details about possible additional maintenance work are confirmed with the FAA," the airline said Jan 6. "We are in touch with the FAA to determine what, if any, further work is required before these aircraft are returned to service."

The aircraft involved, N704AL, was delivered on Oct. 31, 2023, the Aviation Week Network Fleet Discovery database shows. It had operated 134 cycles through Dec. 31, according to Fleet Discovery's Tracked Aircraft Utilization, including 79 in December.

The 737-9 variant, the second of the re-engined 737 Next Generation family to enter service, completed its first flight on April 13, 2017. Most of the 218 737-9s in service are with United and Alaska.

United said that 33 of its 737-9s have already had the required inspection. It was the first North American carrier to operate the variant, in June 2018, and operates many of the highest-time airframes.

Turkish Airlines said it removed five affected 737-9s "until the technical investigation process is completed and the measures requested by the authorities are implemented," a spokesperson said.

FlyDubai confirmed that its three aircraft are not affected because they do not have the blocked exit plug configuration.

Other operators with substantial numbers of 737-9s with deactivated exits include Copa Airlines (29), Aeromexico (18), Fleet Discovery shows.

Panama-based Copa said Jan. 6 that it had temporarily suspended operations of 21 737-9s until the aircraft could undergo inspections based on the FAA EAD. Copa said it had initiated the technical inspections and expected to return the aircraft “safely and reliably to the flight schedule within the next 24 hours.”