The latest reported failure comes less than a month after the company pleaded guilty to criminal fraud in 737 Max crashes.
U.S. aircraft maker Boeing has halted test flights of its twin-engine 777X jet after post-flight inspections identified critical part failures on three of four test aircraft, industry media outlet Air Current reported on Monday, citing sources.
According to the aviation news service, a titanium thrust link, part of the structure that mounts the engine on the aircraft, was found severed on a jet after a test flight in Hawaii. Further inspections found similar flaws on two more aircraft, Air Current cited two people familiar with the matter as saying.
“Our team is replacing the part and capturing any learnings from the component and will resume flight testing when ready,” Boeing confirmed to Air Current in an emailed statement.
The 777X’s engines are the largest and most powerful ever built, measuring nearly 3.5 meters in diameter and weighing 11 tons each.
Also on Monday, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration ordered inspections of another Boeing aircraft, the 787 Dreamliner. In an incident in March, a 787 jet entered a sudden dive in mid-air, injuring more than 50 passengers.
Several flaws have been discovered in Boeing aircraft in recent months, sparking safety concerns and investigations.
In July, the company agreed to pay a $243.6 million fine and pleaded guilty to fraud over its attempts to hide flaws in the stability system responsible for the 2018 and 2019 crashes that killed nearly 350 people.
Under the plea agreement, the automaker agreed to invest at least $455 million over the next three years to improve its safety and compliance programs and submit to three years of probation by a special monitor appointed by the U.S. government.
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