Boeing checks 787 Dreamliners for wing cracks

Ukraine crisis: Russia warns US against 'hasty' sanctions

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has warned the US not to take "hasty and reckless steps" in response to the crisis in Ukraine's Crimea region.

In a phone call with his US counterpart John Kerry, Mr Lavrov said imposing sanctions on Moscow would harm the US.

Pro-Russian troops have been in control of Crimea for the last week.

Earlier, a stand-off involving pro-Russian soldiers at a Ukrainian military base outside Sevastopol reportedly ended without incident.

Crimea's parliament announced on Thursday it would hold a referendum on 16 March on whether to join Russia or remain part of Ukraine.

Russia's parliament has promised to support Crimea if it chooses to become part of Russia.

The vote has been denounced as "illegitimate" by the interim government in Kiev, which took power after President Viktor Yanukovych fled to Russia last month in the wake of mass protests against his government and deadly clashes with security forces.

In their telephone conversation on Friday, Mr Lavrov warned Mr Kerry against taking "hasty and unthought-through steps capable of causing harm to Russian-US relations", Russia's foreign ministry reports.

Mr Lavrov said imposing sanctions on Russia in response to its involvement in Ukraine "will inevitably have a boomerang effect against the US itself".

The US State Department said Mr Kerry had "underscored the importance of finding a constructive way to resolve the situation diplomatically, which would address the interests of the people of Ukraine, Russia and the international community".

"Secretary Kerry and Foreign Minister Lavrov agreed to continue to consult in the days ahead on the way forward," said the US statement.

Journalists beaten

On Friday evening, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency cited Ukraine's defence ministry as saying a lorry had rammed open the gates of the missile defence base A2355 outside the Crimean city of Sevastopol and that about 20 "attackers" had entered, throwing stun grenades.

The Ukrainian troops barricaded themselves inside a building and their commander began negotiations before any shots were fired, it added.

The BBC's Christian Fraser, who visited the scene, said the gates did not appear to have been driven through, and there was no sign that the base had been seized.

There were two military lorries with Russian number plates outside the gates, surrounded by irregular soldiers and a very hostile crowd of pro-Russian demonstrators, our correspondent adds.

Two journalists who attempted to take photographs were beaten badly.

Later, a Ukrainian officer told a Daily Telegraph journalist that the stand-off had ended after the "talks", and that the Russian lorries and about 30 to 60 Russians troops had withdrawn. No shots are believed to have been fired.

'Mortal danger'

The Pentagon estimates that 20,000 Russian troops may now be in Crimea, while the Ukrainian border guards' commander puts the figure at 30,000.

President Putin insists that the armed men are local "self-defence forces", and are not under his command.

But he says Russia has the right to use force to protect Russian citizens and speakers who he says are threatened in post-uprising Ukraine.

His spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said on Russian state television on Friday: "Can Russia stand idly by when Russians somewhere in the world - especially in neighbouring Ukraine - face mortal danger?"

Calls for talks between Russia and Ukraine mediated by the West "make us smile", he said.

The Russian foreign ministry separately accused the EU of taking an "extremely unconstructive position" by halting talks on easing visa restrictions on Russian citizens and on a new pact to replace the 1997 Russia-EU Partnership and Co-operation Agreement.

Meanwhile, Russia's state-owned energy company, Gazprom, warned Ukraine that its gas supply might be cut off unless its $1.89bn (£1.13bn) of debts were cleared.

Gazprom halted supplies to Ukraine for almost two weeks in 2009, a move that caused shortages in Europe.

Ukrainian officials have said the state has come close to bankruptcy since protesters ousted President Yanukovych at the end of February. Officials say $35bn (£21bn) is needed to get through this year and 2015.

Mr Putin said he hoped the Paralympic Winter Games, which opened in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Friday, would help "lower the heat of passions over Ukraine".

The Ukrainian team was represented only by a single athlete carrying the national flag at the opening ceremony.

Valeriy Sushkevych, head of the National Paralympic Committee of Ukraine, said its athletes had debated whether to boycott the Games but had decided to compete unless the "crisis were to escalate".

Boeing checks 787 Dreamliners for wing cracks

Boeing Co said on Friday that "hairline cracks" had been discovered in the wings of about 40 787 Dreamliners that are in production, marking another setback for the company's newest jet.

The cracks have not been found on planes that are in use byairlines and therefore pose no safety risk, Boeing said, adding the problem also will not alter Boeing's plans to deliver 110 787s this year.

However, Boeing said the cracks, which also occurred on the larger 787-9 model currently undergoing flight tests, could delay by a few weeks the date when airlines can take delivery of their new planes.

The disclosure raised questions about repair costs and a possible minor increase in the weight of the plane, but did not seem to spell major trouble for Boeing, industry experts said.

Wing-maker Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd notified Boeing in February of the problem, which arose after the Japanese company altered its manufacturing process.

"We are discussing with Boeing how to deal with the problem," a spokesman for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Tokyo said. He was unable to comment on why the company changed the manufacturing process.

Boeing, based in Chicago, said it immediately notified customers of potential delays. It said none of the jets potentially affected by the problem has been delivered.

"We are confident that the condition does not exist in the in-service fleet," Boeing spokesman Doug Alder said.

The U.S. regulator said it is aware of the situation.

"The FAA will work with Boeing to ensure that the issues are corrected before the airplanes are delivered," the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.

Boeing shares fell 54 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $128.00 in after-hours trading.

TEETHING ISSUES

The cracks are the latest trouble for the Dreamliner, a high-tech jet largely made of carbon-fiber composite that has been beset with so-called "teething issues" since entering service in 2011, three years behind schedule.

Last year, lithium-ion batteries overheated on two Dreamliners, prompting regulators to ground the worldwide fleet for more than three months while Boeing redesigned the battery system. Another battery overheated this year.

Airbus also has struggled with wing cracks on its A380 jet.

"If they can keep the delivery schedule going, it shouldn't be a major problem for customers," said Richard Aboulafia, aerospace analyst at the Teal Group in Fairfax, Virginia.

"But there is an expense."

He added that the manufacturing change was probably aimed at reducing the weight of the plane, as was the case with the A380.

"If they have to revisit that, it could add weight to the design, though only a modest amount," he said.

Boeing said the 787 cracks occurred in shear ties on wing ribs, and will take one to two weeks to inspect and fix.

Wing ribs run parallel to the fuselage of the plane. The ties, made of aluminum, hold the rib to the skin of the wing and will be replaced with an aluminum part.

"If we find an affected area, we'll correct the issue by trimming out the area and applying a fabricated piece in its place," Alder said.

Boeing declined to discuss the manufacturing change that led to the problem.

Boeing expects to deliver 110 787s this year, and to earn revenue of between $87.5 billion and $90.5 billion. So far it has delivered nine, including one delivered on Friday.

"Deliveries continue as normal outside this potentially impacted 40," Alder said.

AIRBUS CRACKS

Boeing's disclosure comes as Airbus emerges from a painful two-year program of modifications and hundreds of millions of euros of financial charges triggered by the discovery of cracks on brackets attached to wing ribs on the A380.

Reuters reported on Thursday that Airbus had once again ordered more frequent inspections of the wings of the world's largest passenger jet after discovering unexpected levels of metal fatigue, this time during testing on a factory mock-up.

The planemaker has asked airlines to inspect the wing's "spars" or main internal beams during regular major overhauls carried out after six years in service, and then again at 12 years, instead of waiting for the 12-year overhaul, industry sources said.

An Airbus spokeswoman confirmed the discovery of unspecified "fatigue findings" on a factory test plane.

"This will be addressed during routine maintenance inspections and the aircraft remains safe to fly," she said.

Most aircraft undergo a regular pattern of checks from small daily ones to heavy maintenance checks every five or six years.

Aircraft industry experts have known for decades that metal fatigue cannot be eliminated, but they have worked out a system for monitoring it backed up by mandatory maintenance schedules.

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 771