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On August 19th local time, Bloomberg reported that Boeing suspended the flight test of its largest twin-engine passenger aircraft in history, the 777X, due to damage to the engine bracket. At the same time, it was inspecting its fleet of four aircraft to check whether there were cracks in key structural components related to the loading of General Electric engines.

Boeing said it discovered damage to the 777-9's thrust rods during routine maintenance after its first test flight. The company said in a statement that the part "did not perform as designed." Boeing plans to replace the engine mounts and said it will "resume flight testing when ready."

Boeing said it had informed the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and customers of the problem with the engine mount, which is designed specifically for the 777-9, the first jet under development in the 777X series.

Boeing's manufacturing and engineering capabilities have long been questioned.

The Associated Press reported on several Boeing safety accidents: At the end of October 2018, a Boeing 737Max8 aircraft crashed into the Java Sea in Indonesia a few minutes after taking off from Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board; in March 2019, a Boeing 737Max8 passenger plane of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed after taking off from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, killing 157 passengers and crew members; in January this year, a passenger plane of Alaska Airlines was hit in the side of the fuselage during the flight, but fortunately it landed safely. The subsequent emergency order of the Federal Aviation Administration will affect about 171 aircraft worldwide.

Since then, the safety of Boeing aircraft has once again come under considerable scrutiny.

Boeing delivered its first 787 Dreamliner to China's Juneyao Airlines four years after China suspended delivery of the 737 Max and other models following two fatal 737 Max crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia.

The Wall Street Journal reported on April 9 this year that Boeing engineer Sam Salehpour accused Boeing 777 and 787 Dreamliners of having manufacturing defects that increased the risk of aircraft failure. In a follow-up investigation in June, Boeing executives admitted that the company retaliated against the whistleblower.

Boeing's financial report in June this year showed that its total revenue in the second quarter was US$16.866 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 14.61%; its net profit was -US$1.439 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 865.77%.

The 777X, hailed as a more efficient replacement for Boeing's four-engine 747 jumbo jet and Airbus' A380, has been in development for more than a decade and was originally scheduled to enter the market in 2020. After years of setbacks, the aircraft has finally begun test flights accompanied by US regulators.

Bloomberg once said that although the 777X series is five years behind schedule, approving the first aircraft to enter the commercial market will appease angry customers and help curb Boeing's financial losses.

The August 19 accident marked another setback for Boeing's efforts to certify its largest passenger aircraft.

"The grounding is likely to delay 777X delivery expectations, perhaps even into 2026," RBC Capital analyst Ken Herbert told clients in a note Monday, predicting the 777X program could face a "lengthy approval period."

It is worth mentioning that on July 22 this year, Korean Air announced an order for up to 50 Boeing wide-body jets, including 20 777-9s and 20 787-10s.

Emirates has also ordered 200 777Xs. Earlier, Emirates President Tim Clark also predicted that Boeing's 777X aircraft will not be put into commercial service before 2026, because in addition to approval and commercial operation, Boeing is also facing the problem of insufficient production capacity and backlog of orders.

Boeing said it was inspecting other aircraft in the 777X flight-test fleet to look for issues. There are no plans to flight-test those aircraft in the near future.

GE Aerospace said there were no issues with the GE9X turbofan engine, the largest and most powerful commercial jet engine ever built.

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