By Marcy Kreiter - Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) has experts to the scene of the derailment of a 19-car Montana Rail Link Inc. train near Rivulet to determine how much damage was suffered by fuselages and other parts that got dumped into the Clark Fork River.
The train, carrying six Boeing 737 fuselages, Boeing 777 fuselage panels and Boeing 747 wing parts, derailed Thursday en route to Boeing's Renton and Everett, Washington, assembly plants from Spirit Aerosystems in Wichita, Kansas.
Photos indicated three fuselages fell down an embankment. One was submerged in the water and a fourth appeared to have been destroyed.
The Wall Street Journal reported a 50-person removal crew was attempting to recover the fuselages intact.
Aviation Week reported the derailment likely would disrupt Boeing production. The Reston plant has been assembling 42 737s a month since March. Spirit has ramped up shipments to meet the Boeing production schedule, which has increased about 33 percent since 2010.
The Wichita plant also makes the nose section, body panels, wing center section, nose gear door and nacelles for the 747-8, along with the forward nose section for the 777.