New York, United States
Boeing this week revealed that the paperwork could be the reason behind a January inflight incident on a 737 MAX operated by Alaska Airlines that required an emergency landing. The incident involved a door plug blowing off the Alaska Airlines flight, with a probe still underway.
The issue around missing paperwork is not news because so far no documentation has been found that can provide details about who worked on the door plug, which came off the plane after it had reached around 16,000 feet in the air. It led to an uncontrolled decompression and also injured some passengers.
CNN reported that at a briefing for journalists at Boeing’s 737 Max factory in Renton, Washington, the company said that the lack of paperwork is why the four bolts needed to hold the door plug in place were never installed before the plane left the factory in October. The workers who needed to reinstall the bolts never had the work order telling them the work needed to be done, the report further added.
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The report mentioned that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) scolded Boeing on Thursday for releasing "non-public investigative information" to the media. The government body said in a statement that the company had "blatantly violated" the agency's rules.
"During a media briefing Tuesday about quality improvements… a Boeing executive provided investigative information and gave an analysis of factual information previously released. Both of these actions are prohibited," the NTSB said.
"As a party to many NTSB investigations over the past decades, few entities know the rules better than Boeing," the NTSB further added.
In response, Boing said, "We deeply regret that some of our comments, intended to make clear our responsibility in the accident and explain the actions we are taking, overstepped the NTSB's role as the source of investigative information."
"We apologize to the NTSB and stand ready to answer any questions as the agency continues its investigation," the statement further said.
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One more whistleblower
This development came when another whistleblower stepped forward on Wednesday (Jun 26) alleging he was retaliated against after flagging potentially dangerous manufacturing problems on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
According to attorneys Katz Banks Kumin, Richard Cuevas filed complaints with two US agencies alleging he was dismissed suddenly in March 2024 after raising concerns over manufacturing deviations in the forward pressure bulkhead, which is critical to managing pressure during flights.
Cuevas is the latest whistleblower to come forward from Boeing's operations, adding to scrutiny of the plane maker following a January inflight incident on a 737 MAX operated by Alaska Airlines that required an emergency landing.
Cuevas worked as a contractor for Strom, who assigned him to Spirit AeroSystems, which builds fuselages for the Dreamliner.
(With inputs from agencies)