Share
■Boeing refuses to provide information about who worked on a faulty door plug.
■It faces increasing scrutiny following an incident involving an Alaska Airlines Max 9.
■The FAA has given Boeing 90 days to respond to quality-control issues.
Boeing has refused to tell investigators who worked on the door plug that later blew off a jetliner during flight in January, the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday.
The company also hasn’t provided documentation about a repair job that included removing and reinstalling the panel on the Boeing 737 Max 9 — or even whether Boeing kept records — Jennifer Homendy told a Senate committee.
Concerns About Quality Assurance
“It’s absurd that two months later we don’t have that,” Homendy said. “Without that information, that raises concerns about quality assurance, quality management, safety management systems” at Boeing.
Lawmakers seemed stunned.
“That is utterly unacceptable,” said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.
Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Increasing Scrutiny on Boeing
Boeing has been under increasing scrutiny since the incident in January in which a panel that plugged a space left for an extra emergency door blew off an Alaska Airlines Max 9. Pilots were able to land safely, and there were no injuries.
In a preliminary report last month, the NTSB said four bolts that help keep the door plug in place were missing after the panel was removed so workers could repair nearby damaged rivets last September. The rivet repairs were done by contractors working for Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems, but the NTSB still does not know who removed and replaced the door panel, Homendy said Wednesday.
Boeing’s Response to the Incident
Homendy said Boeing has a 25-member team led by a manager, but Boeing has declined repeated requests for their names so they can be interviewed by investigators. Security-camera footage that might have shown who removed the panel was erased and recorded over 30 days later, she said.
The Federal Aviation Administration recently gave Boeing 90 days to say how it will respond to quality-control issues raised by the agency and a panel of industry and government experts. The panel found problems in Boeing’s safety culture despite improvements made after two Max 8 jets crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people.
RELATED TOPICS:
Clovis, Sanger, Madera, and Bass Lake Will Light the Sky With Fireworks Shows Tonight
1 day ago
Oil Dips Ahead of Expected OPEC+ Output Increase
1 day ago
613 Killed at Gaza Aid Distribution Sites, Near Humanitarian Covoys, Says UN
1 day ago
Fresno County Authorities Investigating Suspicious Death of Transient Man
1 day ago
Israeli Military Kills 20 in Gaza as Trump Awaits Hamas Reply to Truce Proposal
1 day ago
Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Rachelle Maria Blanco
1 day ago
Russia Pounds Kyiv With Largest Drone Attack, Hours After Trump-Putin Call
1 day ago
How Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Will Make China Great Again
14 hours ago
Categories

How Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Will Make China Great Again

What’s Caitlin Clark Worth to the WNBA? A Lot More Than Her $78,066 Salary.

Trump to Sign Tax-Cut and Spending Bill in July 4 Ceremony

Clovis, Sanger, Madera, and Bass Lake Will Light the Sky With Fireworks Shows Tonight

Oil Dips Ahead of Expected OPEC+ Output Increase

613 Killed at Gaza Aid Distribution Sites, Near Humanitarian Covoys, Says UN

Fresno County Authorities Investigating Suspicious Death of Transient Man
