Montreal/Paris
Reuters
–
A raccoon family recently entered the Airbus plant in Canada, adding a rare headache to PlaneMaker’s more familiar parts shortages and supply chain obstacles.
Five mammals have been found in a plant near Montreal, which produces the A220 passenger plane, sources told Reuters.
“After we got into the plane, a man came face to face with the raccoon,” the factory worker said.
A second source stated that the damage contained urine and a bitten wire.
Workers on the stretched assembly line had to be pulled away from their normal work to take on the time-consuming task of isolating the initial jet and inspecting the damages of fur intruders known to forage food trash cans.
Airbus confirmed the discovery of the raccoon family on one plane, but refused to say whether it delayed production or caused damage.
“Aircraft are pursuing an assembly process,” the spokesman said, with measures being put in place to ensure safety and quality.
The incident is merely a temporary headache, but as Airbus is in a hurry to speed up production, it warns airlines that it faces a delivery delay of another three years as it works through a backlog of supply chain issues.
Recent failures include missing engines, late arrivals of components and delayed interiors, Airbus said. However, there are rarely any emergency plans that require you to deal with omnivores drifting in rural factories.
“We had to back up everything up to inspect,” the second source explained.
Airbus said the animals were removed in a safe place.
