http://online.wsj.com/articles/boeing-assessing-damage-to-aircraft-components-after-train-accident-1404584812
Boeing Co. BA +0.70% said Saturday that it was assessing the damage to aircraft components that were aboard a freight train that derailed in Montana on the way to the company's plants in Washington state.
The derailment threatened to throw a wrench in the tightly choreographed, far-flung aerospace supply chain, which depends on just-in-time deliveries of giant parts by train, plane and boat to meet record demand for jetliners.
The 19-car Montana Rail Link Inc. train, which derailed Thursday near Rivulet, Mont., was carrying components including complete fuselages of six single-aisle 737s, fuselage panels for a long-range 777 and wing parts for a 747 jumbo jet.
Most of those pieces were manufactured by Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc. SPR +0.88% in Wichita, Kan., where the shipment originated. They were destined for Boeing's Renton and Everett assembly lines, which piece together the majority of the company's commercial aircraft.
Boeing has "deployed experts to the scene to begin a thorough assessment of the situation," a spokesman said. "Once we determine the extent of damage we will assess what, if any, impact there will be to production."
Photos from the scene showed three 737 fuselages that tumbled down an embankment, two of which were partly submerged in the Clark Fork River below the tracks. A fourth 737 fuselage appeared to have been torn apart during the derailment and was resting next to the tracks.
Montana Rail Link spokeswoman Lynda Frost said the westbound tracks reopened Saturday evening but were closed again Sunday morning to allow retrieval of the three 737 fuselages. Removing them from the river was taking longer than anticipated, she said, with only one expected to be removed Sunday. She said it might not be until Tuesday until all were removed.
A crew of about 50 people aimed to remove the fuselages intact, despite the challenging extraction, Ms. Frost said.
Boeing shipments are common on the route through Montana, and the section of track where the derailment occurred has a speed limit of about 35 miles an hour, she said. Ms. Frost said the train was traveling at 31 mph when it derailed. Neither of the two people on board, were injured, she said.
Boeing contracts with BNSF Railway Co. to transport the parts, which uses it own crews on the train from Kansas to Billings, Mont., where Montana Rail Link crews take over until Spokane, Wash., before switching back to BNSF for the final leg to the Seattle area, Ms. Frost said.
Boeing's jetliner supply chain has been disrupted before. Two years ago a tornado struck Spirit's main factory in Wichita, shutting down operations for a week. In June 2011, a BNSF train traveling through Nebraska derailed when a tornado knocked cars from the track, damaging a 737 fuselage on board.
Boeing announced a record first half for jetliner production. It delivered 342 jetliners, including 124 of its 737s, from its Renton factory. Boeing this year accelerated output of the 737 to 42 a month, or two aircraft for each manufacturing day.
Major aircraft makers such as Boeing and Airbus Group EADSY +0.81% NV spread their jetliner factories across regions and countries, requiring a finely tuned logistics network to move aircraft components around the world. Both also use cargo ships and specially modifiedcargo jets to speed the delivery of body, wing and tail sections to assembly lines in sites as far flung as China and Charleston, S.C.
