Dive Brief:
- Six fuselages involved in a train derailment in Montana were scrapped by a recycling company in the same state.
- Pacific Steel and Recycling crushed and bailed the 737 fuselages using a portable bailer that crushes vehicles.
- The crushed fuselages will be transported to a Pacific Steel plant near Boise, ID to be shredded.
Dive Insight:
The six fuselages fell off a train when it derailed on July 3 around Alberton, MT. Three fuselages rolled into a riverbank and two of those fell into the river. One fuselage broke apart into two pieces. The parts were being shipped from the company that builds the fuselages to the plant that assembles them.
Boeing entered into a partnership with Alcoa to recycle aluminum aerospacece alloys, including fuselage systems and wings. The program was established in June 2013 as a way to draw the maximum value from the aluminum scrap metals during the supply chain, while also serving to reduce waste. The company estimates it will recycle around eight million pounds of aluminum aerospace alloy annually.