Boeing Dreamliner Safety Concerns Are Specious

SoyChemist writes in to note his article at Wired Science on the uproar Dan Rather has stirred up with his claim that Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner aircraft may be unsafe. "Dozens of news agencies have jumped on the bandwagon. Most of them are reporting that the carbon fiber frame may not be as sturdy as aluminum. Few have bothered to question Rather's claims that the composite materials are brittle, more likely to shatter on impact, and prone to emit poisonous chemicals when ignited. While there is a lot of weight behind the argument that composite materials are not as well-studied as aircraft aluminum, the reasoning behind the flurry of recent articles may be faulty. The very title of Rather's story, Plastic Planes, indicates a lack of grounding in science. Perhaps the greatest concern should be how well the plane will hold up to water. Because they are vulnerable to slow and steady degradation by moisture, the new materials may not last as long as aluminum. Testing them for wear and tear will be more difficult too."

I don't know

[stoolpigeon]

I heard he has an email from Pres. Bush that he sent Boeing in 1945 proving that they knew the plane was unsafe.

Shocked

[Selfbain]

Dan Rather falsely reporting something? I'm shocked, SHOCKED! Well, not that shocked.

Re:Typical Dan Rather

[stoolpigeon]

Engineers who want to hang people on meat hooks are the kind of engineers you can trust. Passionate - that's what that is.

If you ask me...

[maniac/dev/null]

If you ask me, Dan's gotten himself in more trouble than a chipmunk in a tire factory.

The real safety concern is off-radar...

[aapold]

As we know from Battlestar Galactica, making the hull from composites will make it invisible to Radar [battlestarwiki.org]..

thus air traffic control will be unable to find them and guide traffic around them.

Dan Rather's claims

[leereyno]

Dan Rather's claims are based on a report he received from 1972 detailing the flaws and dangers of carbon fiber airframes. The report used proportional fonts, kerning, and a typeface that was not available until much later.

When questioned about these inconsistencies, Rather declared "I believe this story is true! I believe it in my heart! I stand by my pres.. errr, I mean Boeing, but I feel this story is true!"

Boeing was not available for comment.

Re:Poisonous chemicals!

[walt-sjc]

I thought it was still Gremlins ripping control cables out of the wings during flight... Luckily the inflatable auto-pilot (the kind with the inflation tube in it's lap) will still see you safely down.

Argh! can't keep all these movies straight!

Carbon Fiber Is Not Safe

[Comatose51]

Which is exactly why we built our B2 Spirit stealth bomber out of it... or why Ferrari uses CF for their cars or why my high end Cannondale bicycle is made out of it. Aluminum doesn't bend; it just cracks given enough flexing (try this with a soda can). Any cyclist who knows bikes are aware of this.