Irkut has carried out the maiden flight of the MC-21-310, the version of the twinjet powered by Russian-built Aviadvigatel PD-14 engines. The flight – with aircraft number 73055 – took place from Irkutsk aviation plant’s airfield on 15 December and lasted about 1h 25min. It was crewed by two test pilots and an engineer, and the flight involved initial powerplant checks as well as tests on the stability of the aircraft. The sortie follows Russian trade and industry minister Denis Manturov’s claims that the aircraft would fly by the end of this year. 'Today we see the result of a consistent state policy in the development of high-tech industries,” he says, adding that this has “created a new generation of designers and production workers”. Manturov adds that the MC-21-310’s first flight is the “fruits of labour from tens of thousands of people” working in the engine-manufacturing facilities. State technology firm Rostec’s general director, Sergei Chemezov, adds that the occasion marks the “unification” of two major Russian civil aviation programmes, the MC-21 and PD-14. The MC-21 had previously only flown with the rival Pratt & Whitney PW1400G engine. This variant of the twinjet is desginated the -300. Chemezov says the MC-21 will “returns our country to the top league of world aviation”.

Boeing’s stockpile of undelivered 787s has swelled in recent weeks as the company addresses quality issues determined to be more widespread than initially suspected. The Chicago airframer now holds 60 undelivered 787s, up from 40 two months ago and from 31 in late July. Those jets have made first flight but have not been delivered. The increasing stockpile comes as Boeing confirms it identified additional quality issues with 787 fuselages. Related inspections have slowed deliveries to a crawl. “We have identified other areas of the fuselage join… with the skin-flatness issue. This did not meet engineering specifications,” Boeing says. “Engineering analysis… [has] shown this not to be a safety-of-flight issue”. The Federal Aviation Administration agrees. “None of the issues raised recently are considered to be immediate safety concerns,” the agency says. “Nevertheless, the FAA takes these quality concerns seriously and continues to be involved in the discussions about any mitigations.” Several months ago, Boeing identified the skin-flatness issue at 787 “aft-body fuselage joins”, it says. Asked to elaborate, Boeing says it “discovered that some areas of the 787 circumferential fuselage join may not meet specified skin-flatness tolerances”. Those tolerances are “five one-thousandths of an inch – no wider than the width of a human hair”, it adds. The issues have led Boeing to inspect aircraft coming off its assembly lines in Everett and South Carolina, “to ensure these meet our highest quality standards”. The inspections have slowed deliveries, as has the coronavirus pandemic and related travel restrictions, Boeing has said. During a 4 December Credit Suisse conference, Boeing chief financial officer Greg Smith said inspections were “taking longer than we previously anticipated”. The airframer delivered no 787s in November, and has handed over just 17 of the jets since July, Boeing’s data shows. “We have strengthened our quality assurance programme over the last 12 months, and in doing so identified certain items on assembled 787 airplanes that we are taking time to inspect and correct as necessary,” Boeing tells. “These inspections will result in slowed deliveries for the remainder of the year, and we anticipate unwinding the inventory of undelivered airplanes throughout 2021.” The Seattle Times reported that the issue has also spurred inspections at 787 suppliers, including Wichita’s Spirit AeroSystems, Italy’s Leonardo and Japan’s Kawasaki. Those companies all make 787 fuselage sections. The Times’ report suggests the issue involves manufacturing of the composite sections. Boeing declines to confirm if suppliers are also inspecting components. “We are working with suppliers to assess this issue. And as explained, we are inspecting undelivered airplanes and will meet all requirements before delivery,” Boeing says.

The US Federal Aviation Administration is allowing pilots to receive Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine, so long as they wait 48h before returning to the cockpit. “The FAA has determined that pilots may receive the vaccine under the conditions of their FAA-issued airman medical certification,” the agency says on 12 December. “FAA air traffic controllers, who are subject to FAA medical clearance, may also receive the vaccine.” Last week, pilot union Air Line Pilots Association, International urged the FAA to fast-track its approval. The US Food & Drug Administration approved the vaccine with an emergency authorisation on 11 December. “To maintain the highest level of safety in the national airspace system, the agency will require aviation professionals with medical certifications or medical clearances to observe a period of 48h following the administration of this vaccine before conducting safety-sensitive aviation duties, such as flying or controlling air traffic,” the FAA adds. The 48h waiting period applies to both the first and second required doses of Pfizer’s vaccine. The FAA has required so-called “wait times” for pilots receiving immunisations to other diseases, such as those for tuberculosis and typhus, it says. “The agency’s medical professionals will continuously monitor the initial distribution of the novel vaccine and documented clinical results and will adjust these recommendations as needed,” adds the FAA.