Should Boeing’s entire corporate leadership resign? This circus will remain in town for the foreseeable future as manufacturing and safety issues continue to plague the aviation company. It all started when a door panel blew off a flight from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California. It was on a 737 Max 9 aircraft, which, unlike the Max 8, didn’t fall out of the sky and kill everyone.
The Federal Aviation Administration grounded dozens of flights featuring this model, later extending that order indefinitely. Only recently have some 737s been allowed to return to the skies after a strenuous safety review. The FAA is also auditing the manufacturing processes and halting future production of the Max 9. To make things worse, when mandatory safety inspections by the airlines were conducted during the grounding order, it was discovered that the aircraft’s bolts needed tightening. And if things couldn’t get any more nightmarish for Boeing, a company memo was issued noting that some 737 models contained “misdrilled” holes in the fuselage.
So, now that we’ve rehashed this saga of incompetence and poor construction, the National Transportation Safety Board discovered that the reason the door panel blew off the Portland-Ontario flight was because it was missing—you guessed it—the bolts (via NBC News):
The door panel on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 that fell off midair had no bolts installed on the door plug, according to preliminary findings released Tuesday by the National Transportation Safety Board.
A picture of the plane in a factory in Renton, Washington, revealed the lack of bolts, the NTSB said.
"Photo documentation obtained from Boeing shows evidence of the left-hand MED plug closed with no retention hardware (bolts) in the three visible locations," the report said, using an acronym for the middle exit door.
[…]
The faulty plug was manufactured by Spirit AeroSystems Malaysia on March 24, 2023, and was received at Spirit AeroSystems Wichita on May 10, 2023, the report said. The plug was then installed and rigged on the Spirit AeroSystems Fuselage Line 8789 before it was shipped to Boeing on Aug. 20, 2023. The fuselage arrived at Boeing’s Renton facility on Aug. 31, 2023, according to the report.
In a statement Tuesday, Boeing said it appreciates the NTSB's work and will review the findings "expeditiously" while continuing to cooperate with investigations by the NTSB and Federal Aviation Administration.
“Whatever final conclusions are reached, Boeing is accountable for what happened," Boeing President and CEO Dave Calhoun said in the statement. "An event like this must not happen on an airplane that leaves our factory. We simply must do better for our customers and their passengers. We are implementing a comprehensive plan to strengthen quality and the confidence of our stakeholders. It will take significant, demonstrated action and transparency at every turn — and that is where we are squarely focused.”
I appreciate the ‘we must do better’ approach, but this isn’t a food recall. Mistakes like this could kill people.
[…]
The FAA grounded all 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 airplanes operating in the U.S. amid the NTSB's investigation. The FAA also said it was increasing its oversight of Boeing production and manufacturing.
It's not shocking, but still—what a mess.