NTSB Grills Boeing Over Max 9 Door Plug Loss

Aircraft giant addresses its manufacturing process during the first day of hearing in Washington, D.C.

Meg Godlewski

Wednesday, August 07, 2024 at 11:13 AM ET

Verified

Edited By: tccjeremy

Boeing is testifying at a two-day NTSB hearing in Washington, D.C. [Shutterstock]

Key Takeaways:

Testimony at the NTSB hearing revealed a chaotic production environment at Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems, where pressure to meet production goals led to frequent errors and compromised quality control.
The door plug on the Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 was removed at Boeing's factory to address faulty rivets but was reinstalled without its four crucial bolts.
A critical lack of documentation meant there was no paperwork tracking the door plug's removal or the incomplete reinstallation of the bolts.
This oversight was compounded by poor communication between Boeing and Spirit employees, high turnover, and a failure to adhere to established quality procedures, resulting in the delivery of an aircraft with a significant safety defect.

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On Tuesday in Washington, D.C., the National Transportation Safety Board heard testimony from Boeing officials and contractors from Spirit AeroSystems that painted a picture of a chaotic workplace where the drive to meet production goals was making employees work so fast that mistakes were frequent and assembly did not pass quality inspection.

Wednesday is Day 2 of the NTSB hearing about the loss of a door plug from a Boeing 737 Max 9 in January after takeoff in Portland, Oregon.