NTSB Hears Testimony of Boeing Retaliation for Workers’ Mistakes

Second day of Washington, D.C., proceeding brings into question the aircraft giant’s overall corporate culture.

Thursday, August 08, 2024 at 10:11 AM ET

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The door plug on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 blew off as the aircraft climbed through 16,000 feet. [Courtesy: NTSB]

Key Takeaways:

The NTSB hearing uncovered a Boeing corporate culture where employees fear retaliation for reporting mistakes, leading to a lack of trust in internal safety reporting systems and NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy noting perceived disciplinary moves as "a form of retaliation."
This culture contributes to systemic issues such as rushed training, high employee turnover, and inexperienced staff, which were linked to the "accident waiting to happen" environment.
The investigation revealed that the door plug on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 was reinstalled without four retaining bolts, and required paperwork authorizing its removal and reinstallation remains missing.
Employees reported unfamiliarity with or distrust of Boeing's "speak up" process, fearing lack of confidentiality, which echoes past accusations of retaliation against whistleblowers following previous 737 Max crashes.

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Day 2 of the National Transportation Safety Board hearing over the door plug failure on a Boeing 737 Max 9 brought to light a corporate culture where the employees fear retaliation for reporting mistakes.

On Wednesday in Washington, D.C., NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy noted the investigation into the door plug blowout in January near Portland, Oregon, has revealed that the message to Boeing workers is “you mess up, you get moved.”

Meg Godlewski

Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.