[koyote]

So were the bolts missing because the Spirit team did not know they had to be put back (i.e. it was not recorded as a task that needed to be done) or was that simply just another mistake in the long line of mistakes they've made?

Reading through that post gave me nightmares of dealing with outsourcing software teams where you send them a small issue to fix and their fix breaks 3 existing items.

[fcsp]

As things stand, it seems the anon insider report from 3 weeks back was legitimate and accurate, and holds answers to your question: https://leehamnews.com/2024/01/15/unplanned-removal-installa...

[koyote]

I read that but could not work out which of my two statements are true. Might just be bad reading comprehension on my side...

[fcsp]

From my understanding, both Boeing and Spirit have been employing very shoddy practices, but at that point in the production line it's Boeing who is responsible for QA

[runarb]

> were the bolts missing because the Spirit team did not know they had to be put back

It would be interesting to know what ultimately happened to the bolts if they indeed were removed.

When I disassemble something, I do as I was taught in my mechanical class in high school, and always keep all parts I take of in the same box. If I am left with some extra bolts when finished, that would be a worrisome sign.

[WalterBright]

When I was a teen, I rebuilt the engine on my first car. When done, there was a spring left over. I had no idea what it was for, the engine ran fine.

So I drove it around. The oil pressure was very low, but I figured it was just a broken gauge.

Then, the engine got way, way too hot.

It turns out, the spring was for the pressure regulator from the oil pump. The oil was pumped out of the pan right back into the pan. The engine needed to be rebuilt again.

[treflop]

I took it to mean that someone forgot but the mistake would have been caught if the removal was documented in the authoritative record system, since that kicks off an automatic workflow where QA is notified and must sign off.

But they didn’t for whatever reason so two mistakes stacked.