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Boeing executives have admitted they cannot promise that another incident where a plane door plug blows out mid-flight will “not occur tomorrow” as they were forced to give testimony this week following a string of safety scandals.
The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) held a two-day investigative hearing beginning on Tuesday concerning the near-tragedy on Alaska Airlines flight 1282 on January 5 which sent shockwaves through the aviation industry.
The aircraft’s door plug – a self-sealing wedge-shaped door used on pressurized cabins – blew out while the 737 Max aircraft was cruising at 16,000 shortly after departing from Portland, en route to Ontario, California.
All 177 passengers and Alaska Airlines employees landed safely – despite one crew member testifying on Tuesday that she thought passengers had been sucked out of the plane.
During the hearing this week, the aerospace company’s executives admitted that they “cannot promise” that it won’t happen again.
“Are you 100% sure a defect will not occur tomorrow?” NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy asked Boeing’s vice president of regulatory compliance and core quality Hector Silva.
“No,” he replied.
She then asked Silva whether there could be another door plug installed without the same due diligence that was missed prior to the Alaska Airlines incident.
“I cannot make a promise or guarantee of that,” he said, before adding: “We are definitely committed to making sure that all the changes we need to make are made.”
The NTSB grilled the Boeing executives about the events leading up to the mid-air incident, which spelled disaster for the company’s reputation, profits and revenues.
Last September, the 737 Max’s door plug was removed to undergo repairs in Renton, Washington, Boeing Commercial Airplanes’ senior vice president of quality Elizabeth Lund testified. It was later temporarily put back on the plane with four bolts missing.
Paperwork detailing the removal was never created, leaving other workers unaware that bolts needed reinstalling, she said.
But one instrumental piece of information remains shrouded in mystery for both Boeing and the NTSB: when and by whom the door plug was placed back on the plane without the bolts.
“We don’t know and neither do they and that’s a problem,” Homendy told reporters during a break in the hearing.
Additionally, Boeing’s 737 factory had issues with unauthorized work on door plugs “for years,” she told CNN.
NTSB board member J Todd Inman argued Boeing is playing a “game of whack-a-mole” every five to 10 years with safety.
Following the flight 1282 incident, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered Boeing to halt production of the 737 Max until it was satisfied that safety and quality issues had been addressed.
But the Alaska Airlines incident marked only one of a string of safety concerns, including – just last month – a wheel falling off a United Airlines Boeing 757-200 moments after it took off from Los Angeles.
Dozens of Boeing whistleblowers have also forward with claims of alleged bad working habits and the intentional use of defective parts on planes.
Ron Irvin, a former quality investigator at Boeing for six years, previously told The Independent that the aircraft manufacturer was “infested with ‘yes men’” and full of “bean counters”.
Boeing is also dealing with supply-chain issues that are hindering production as it re-acquires key contractor Spirit AeroSystems.
Then, last month, the company struck a plea deal with the Justice Department to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States.
The charge relates to the company misleading federal regulators into approving its 737 Max jetliner – the aircraft model that was later involved in two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019, which together claimed the lives of 346 people.
The scandals have taken a toll on Boeing’s profits too, with the company recording a staggering $1.4bn loss in the second quarter of 2024.
