Air Tanzania, UPS Airlines, and the US Air Force were all waiting for jets as the first plane of the year was sent to FedEx Express. KC-46 Pegasus and 767 freighter deliveries by aircraft maker Boeing were recently delayed for three months.
Several Air Forces around the world are presently using the KC-46 aerial refueling tanker, which is based on the 767-200. In January, Boeing notified operators that it had found a problem with the paint primer applied by a supplier in the central wing fuel tank of some KC-46A Pegasus and 767-300F aircraft.
FedEx Express’ Boeing 767-300F
As a result, Boeing halted deliveries while fixing the issue in its present stock of finished aircraft. FedEx Express’ Boeing 767-300F with the tail number N282FE was the first aircraft to be shipped.
On Saturday, April 1, before it was delivered, the plane was seen flying over Paine Field. The freighter took off just before noon and soared for two hours and twenty minutes before landing in Everett. It then flew back up across the State of Oregon and back along the Pacific coast.
The cargo plane travelled from Paine Field in Everett to the FexEx centre at Indianapolis International Airport on April 4. The aircraft (FX9030) departed almost 30 minutes early than planned at 12:47 and travelled for three and a half hours across a large portion of the United States before landing in Indiana at 19:19.
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Based on flight monitoring information, two more Boeing 767Fs are expected to be delivered soon. A UPS Airlines 767F with the registration number N378UP took its maiden flight on April 4th, 2023, is the first. It took off and circled Port Susan in the north before landing at its starting point after the 23-minute journey.
Air Tanzania
Another 767F, 5H-TCO, belonging to Air Tanzania, is still in transit. When it was discovered that someone within the government had inflated the final invoice for the aircraft in an effort to defraud the State, the acquisition became the center of a recent controversy.
Regardless, on March 19, 2023, the inbound freighter for the African airline flew a test trip under the flight number BOE300.
When contacted by reporters about upcoming deliveries or which customers were getting the aircraft, a spokesperson for Boeing refused to provide any additional information.
Along with the aircraft for Air Tanzania Cargo, the manufacturer still hasn’t sent 27 aircraft to FedEx and the same amount to UPS. For the US Air Force, another 58 refueling aircraft are still on order.
Before shipping the fuel tanks to Boeing for the final assembly of the 767 variants, the centre wing tank structure supplier notified Boeing that it had not adhered to the proper cleaning and paint adhesion testing procedures on the fuel tanks. AeroTime reports that Daher purchased the provider last year from Triumph Group.
Not instantly critical was the problem deemed. However, there was a chance that a fuel tank structure that had been improperly painted and primed could clog gasoline filters and limit the amount of fuel that could flow to the aircraft’s engines.
There are no known cases of fuel contamination on KC-46A aircraft due to non-conforming tank primer, according to a spokesperson for the US Air Force’s Air Mobility Command, who also verified to Aero Time that “Initial assessment has not identified any immediate safety risk to the fleet.”
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