On Tuesday, August 6th, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) of the United States began a two-day investigation hearing on the incident involving the Boeing 737 MAX 9. Executives from Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems, the manufacturer of the fuselage for Boeing MAX aircraft, testified at the hearing, stating that improvements will be made to the aircraft design.
The hearing is examining issues such as manufacturing inspections of the 737 aircraft, safety and quality management systems, oversight by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and concerns surrounding the door latch switch.
Elizabeth Lund, Senior Vice President of Quality at Boeing, stated at the hearing that the company is working on design improvements expected to be implemented this year, followed by fleet-wide retrofitting.
Lund’s remarks came after questions were raised at the hearing about why Boeing did not use a warning system on the door latches. In fact, Boeing employs such a warning system on regular cabin doors, which alerts when the door latch is not securely fastened.
The incident occurred on January 5th when the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, departing from Portland, Oregon, had its cabin door detached at approximately 16,000 feet altitude, resulting in injuries to 8 individuals.
Investigation results following the incident revealed that four crucial bolts were missing from the emergency exit cabin door of the Boeing 737 MAX 9.
This incident marked Boeing’s second major crisis in recent years.
The NTSB stated that as part of the factual investigation step in the safety probe, the committee will gather sworn testimonies related to the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 on January 5, 2024, which will become part of the public record.
Meanwhile, the NTSB also released a 3,800-page factual report and ongoing investigation interviews. It is estimated that a comprehensive investigation will take about a year to 18 months to complete from the time of the incident.
The incident severely damaged Boeing’s reputation, leading the FAA to ground all MAX 9 aircraft (later reinstated after two weeks), enforce production cutbacks, initiate criminal investigations, and witness several top executives resigning. Boeing pledged to enhance its quality standards.
Boeing previously stated that there was no documentation regarding the removal of the four missing critical bolts.
According to Reuters, Lund mentioned at the hearing that Boeing has now introduced vivid blue and yellow labels on delivered factory-maintained door latches, with “Do Not Open” in big letters, along with an additional annotation “to ensure the door latch is not inadvertently opened.” New protocols have been implemented if it becomes necessary to open door latches during the production process.
Doug Ackerman, Vice President of Supplier Quality, Terry George, Senior Vice President and Boeing Program Manager at Spirit AeroSystems, and Scott Grabon, Senior Director of Quality for 737 aircraft at Spirit AeroSystems responsible for manufacturing the MAX fuselage, also testified at Tuesday’s hearing.
Last month, Boeing agreed to repurchase Spirit AeroSystems in a $4.7 billion all-stock transaction. Boeing split from the component manufacturer in 2005 but remained its largest customer. Boeing’s acquisition of Spirit AeroSystems will include all commercial businesses related to Boeing, as well as other commercial, defense, and aftermarket market operations.