Boeing finds new problem in 787, installing patch

PITTSBURGH -- Boeing Co. said Friday it has discovered another problem with its long-delayed 787 jetliner.

The Chicago-based airplane maker found microscopic wrinkles in the skin of the 787's fuselage and is installing a patch, said Lori Gunter, a Boeing spokeswoman. The 787 is built for fuel efficiency from lightweight carbon composite parts.

Boeing ordered an Italian supplier, Alenia Aeronautica, to stop making the fuselage sections on June 23, she said, and is installing a patch -- additional layers of carbon composite material -- on the first of several 787s.

The patches eventually will be installed on 787 fuselages at plants in Italy, Everett, Washington, and South Carolina.

Boeing has delayed the first test flight and deliveries of the 787 repeatedly, costing the company credibility and billions of dollars in anticipated expenses and penalties.

The company postponed the inaugural test flight and deliveries of the plane for the fifth time in June because of another structural problem. Boeing has not announced a revised schedule, but Gunter said that would happen before the end of September.

Shares of Boeing slid $2.07 or 4.4 percent, to $44.55 in midday trading.