Transportation

Boeing Halts 777X Test Flights Over Cracks in Crucial Part

  • Grounding could delay deliveries until 2026, analyst says
  • Issue is latest blow to crisis-ridden plane manufacturer
A Boeing 777X flight test aircraft.Photographer: Jennifer Buchanan/Pool/AFP/Getty Images
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Boeing Co. has paused flight tests of its 777X jetliner while it inspects the four-aircraft fleet for cracking in a crucial structural component that connects the hulking General Electric Co. engines to the plane’s wings.

The planemaker said it discovered a damaged thrust link on a 777-9 during routine maintenance following a test flight. The component “didn’t perform as designed,” the company said in a statement. Boeing plans to replace the component and “will resume flight testing when ready,” it said.