Boeing shuts down production at helicopter plant

Production at Boeing's helicopter plant in suburban Philadelphia was shut down Friday afternoon after a foreign object was found during inspection of an aircraft under production.

Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa., said he had been told by a Boeing executive that a plastic cap was found in the fuel line of a V-22 Osprey fuselage. Sestak, whose district includes the Delaware County plant, said Boeing could not immediately rule it out as a willful act.

Boeing spokesman John Williamson said production at the plant was shut down at 1 p.m. Friday, but declined to give details about the incident.

When the foreign object was found during the inspection, officials from the Defense Contract Management Agency, which oversees military contracts, were immediately notified, Williamson said. He said a federal investigation of the incident barred him from saying more, and said he could not say whether sabotage could be involved.

"Until the Department of Defense completes their review of the situation and sets the criteria, they will not be accepting aircraft from us and we won't be producing any," he said. About 1,600 of the approximately 5,500 employees at the Ridley Park plant are involved in manufacturing, Williamson said.

Sestak said the cap was found during an inspection that began after two dissimilar types of plastic caps couldn't be found at the end of a shift.

"Boeing says they can't rule out that it was not willful, so therefore they are proceeding as if it were," Sestak said. He said the lines were expected to be shut down through the weekend.

A disgruntled ex-Boeing worker admitted in court recently that in May he used his work-issued wire cutters to sever about 70 electrical wires running together from the cockpit to the main body of an H-47 Chinook. That also prompted the company to shut down production lines.