‘The safety deficiencies that led to this accident should have been evident to Boeing and to the FAA,’ the NTSB chair said.
The sudden and unprecedented midair door panel blowout on an Alaska Airlines flight early last year stemmed from failures by Boeing, its supplier SpiritAerosystems, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the National Transportation Safety Board said on June 24.
“The truth is, there was a long chain of events that led to the door plug departure. Problems were identified in numerous Boeing internal audits across production lines, employee speak-up reports, quality alerts, and regulatory compliance issues,” NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said at a June 24 hearing.
“In other words, the safety deficiencies that led to this accident should have been evident to Boeing and to the FAA.”
On Jan. 5, 2024, a door plug ripped off an Alaska Airlines flight right after takeoff from Portland, Oregon. The incident occurred at roughly 16,000 feet and tore passengers’ clothing and threw cellphones out of the plane.
Despite the chaotic and uncontrolled decompression of the 737 MAX 9, no one aboard sustained serious injuries.
The NTSB’s preliminary findings determined that the four bolts that hold the door panel in place were missing when Alaska Airlines received the plane in October 2023. The NTSB said on Tuesday that if just one of the bolts had been in place, the incident likely would not have occurred.
Homendy said the same safety deficiencies that led to the door panel incident could have resulted in other “manufacturing quality escapes and perhaps other accidents.”
The purpose of the NTSB’s investigation, she said, was to “inform safety recommendations that once implemented, will help Boeing close the systemic gaps that led to this accident.”
This is critical so that “every airplane leaving a Boeing factory is safe to transport the most precious thing imaginable, human life,” Homendy added.
However, the chairwoman said the FAA shares blame for the incident.
“This isn’t all on Boeing or Spirit [Aerosystems]. I have lots of questions about where the FAA was during all of this,” Homendy said. “The FAA is the absolute last barrier of defense when it comes to ensuring aviation safety, protecting the more than 1 billion passengers and crew members who fly on U.S. and foreign airlines annually.”
By Jacob Burg
