Boeing Slammed for Not Cooperating with Investigators In The Alaska Airlines Probe

Boeing was slammed by the National Transportation Safety Board on Wednesday for its lack of cooperation in the Alaska Airlines probe. Investigators are looking into the incident that led to the blowout of a door-plug panel in an Alaska Airlines flight in January. 

Fortunately, there were no injuries during the January 5 Alaska Airlines flight. Investigators believe that the problem started during a maintenance at Boeing’s factory in Renton, Washington.

Lack of Cooperation in the Alaska Airlines Probe

Two months since part of the Boeing 737 Max 9 blew off during a flight, investigators still haven’t received key documents in the Alaska Airlines probe. 

The safety board chair, Jennifer Homendy, told the Senate Committee that Boeing repeatedly did not provide the names of employees who worked on the door panels of Boeing 737s.

In addition to this, Boeing did not provide proper documentation in the removal and reinstallation of the panel on the aircraft in question. 

Utterly Unacceptable

Homendy said, “It’s absurd that two months later we don’t have that.” She added, “Without that information, that raises concerns about quality assurance, quality management, safety management systems.” 

Republican Senator Ted Cruz called Boeing’s inaction “utterly unacceptable.”

After the Senate hearing, Boeing responded and said that it gave the NTSB the names of the employees who worked on the 737 doors. 

Boeing said in a statement, “Early in the investigation, we provided the NTSB with names of Boeing employees, including door specialists, who we believed would have relevant information.” The spokesperson added, “We have now provided the full list of individuals on the 737 door team, in response to a recent request.”

Homendy said that she “stands behind her accurate testimony” involving Boeing’s lack of participation in the Alaska Airlines probe.

However, it remains unclear whether the airline kept records of who removed the plug on the Alaska Airlines plane last September. Boeing said, “If the door plug removal was undocumented there would be no documentation to share.”