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A Bird Damaged Boeing 737 Return to Service in 48 Hours

Cutting Tool Magazine

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Swift work by NVision, Inc., a leader in 3D non-contact optical scanning/measurement for more than 29 years, helped a major U.S. airline quickly repair a bird-damaged Boeing 737 wing and return the restored jet back to flight in just two days. The rapid turnaround helped the airline avoid the financial losses typically incurred by grounding aircraft.

In this case, the airline, a low-cost domestic carrier, had suffered damage to one of its 737’s wing ribs, requiring the aircraft to be grounded until repairs were made. Wing ribs are an essential part of a plane's wing assembly. Attached to the spar, the main spanwise beam of an airplane wing, ribs form the “skeleton” of a wing’s structure, giving it its airfoil shape, helping distribute aerodynamic forces over a larger surface area, and making lift possible.

3d scanning a jet engine

NVision technicians traveled to the airline’s facilities and scanned the damaged wing rib using the company’s HandHeld laser scanner, collecting all the necessary data on the rib’s exact geometry; its shape, size, and contours.

After converting the rib’s point cloud to an STL file, NVision technicians imported the file into specialized modeling software, where CAD engineers processed the data to an IGES/STEP model. Design engineers then created an insert to strengthen the rib and electronically transferred the manufacturable CAD model to the airline, where it was rapidly machined and installed, enabling the damaged plane to fly again just 48 hours after the strike.

“We’re doing more aerospace work than ever before,” says Kersen. “Currently, we’re seeing several projects each month. And it just continues to grow. The applications for non-contact optical scanning and measurement in aircraft design and MRO are truly limitless and the airline industry is moving fast to take advantage of this powerful technology.”

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