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:

NTSB testimony revealed a chaotic work environment at Boeing and contractor Spirit AeroSystems, where production pressure led to frequent errors and failed quality inspections.
The Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 door plug detached because it had been removed at the Boeing factory to correct substandard rivets, then reinstalled without its four crucial bolts and without any corresponding documentation of the work.
Contributing to the incident were poor communication between Boeing and Spirit employees, high turnover, and low morale, which prevented proper tracking and securing of the door plug before the aircraft's delivery.

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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.