NTSB Reports No Bolts in Blown Out 737 Max Door

The Boeing airliner flew missing critical parts.

Meg Godlewski

Tuesday, February 06, 2024 at 07:11 PM ET

Verified

Photo of seat rows 25ABC and 26ABC in the preliminary NTSB report. [image source: NTSB report]

Key Takeaways:

The NTSB's preliminary report on the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 door plug incident revealed that critical bolts were missing from the door assembly, having been removed for rivet repairs at the Boeing factory and not replaced.
Evidence suggests that during rivet rework at the Boeing factory, the door's vertical arrestor bolts and upper guide track bolts were removed, and subsequent photographs showed the door plug closed without this retention hardware.
The incident led to minor injuries, a widespread grounding of Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft, and intensified scrutiny from the FAA and NTSB on Boeing's manufacturing and quality control processes.

See a mistake? Contact us.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released its preliminary report on the investigation into the loss of a door plug during flight aboard Alaska Airlines Flight 1282. According to the report released today, critical bolts were removed from the door assembly at the Boeing Factory in Renton, Washington and evidently were not replaced before the aircraft entered service.

The Boeing jet had a mid exit door (MED) blow out just minutes after taking off from Portland International Airport (KPDX) as the aircraft climbed through 16,000 feet. The pilots declared an emergency and returned for landing.