Current:Home > FinanceWitnesses will tell a federal safety board about the blowout on a Boeing 737 Max earlier this year-InfoLens
Witnesses will tell a federal safety board about the blowout on a Boeing 737 Max earlier this year
View Date:2024-12-23 20:55:03
Investigators will question Boeing officials during a hearing starting Tuesday about the midflight blowout of a panel from a 737 Max, an accident that further tarnished the company’s safety reputation and left it facing new legal jeopardy.
The two-day hearing could provide new insight into the Jan. 5 accident, which caused a loud boom and left a gaping hole in the side of the Alaska Airlines jet.
The National Transportation Safety Board has said in a preliminary report that four bolts that help secure the panel, which is call a door plug, were not replaced after a repair job in a Boeing factory, but the company has said the work was not documented. During the two-day hearing, safety board members are expected to question Boeing officials about the lack of paperwork that might have explained how such a potentially tragic mistake occurred.
“The NTSB wants to fill in the gaps of what is known about this incident and to put people on the record about it,” said John Goglia, a former NTSB member. The agency will be looking to underscore Boeing’s failures in following the process it had told the Federal Aviation Administration it was going to use in such cases, he said.
The safety board will not determine a probable cause after the hearing. That could take another year or longer. It is calling the unusually long hearing a fact-finding step.
Among the scheduled witnesses is Elizabeth Lund, who has been Boeing’s senior vice president of quality — a new position — since February, and officials from Spirit AeroSystems, which makes fuselages for Max jets.
Spirit installed the door plug — a panel that fills a space created for an extra exit on some planes — on the Alaska Airlines jet, but the panel was removed and the bolts taken off in a Boeing factory near Seattle to repair rivets.
The NTSB’s agenda for the hearing includes testimony about manufacturing and inspections, the opening and closing of the door plug in the Boeing factory, safety systems at Boeing and Spirit, and the FAA’s supervision of Boeing.
FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker has conceded that his agency’s oversight of the company “was too hands-off — too focused on paperwork audits and not focused enough on inspections.” He has said that is changing.
The plane involved had been delivered to Alaska Airlines in late October and had made only about 150 flights. The airline stopped using the plane on flights to Hawaii after a warning light indicating a possible pressurization problem lit up on three different flights.
The accident on flight 1282 occurred minutes after takeoff from Portland, Oregon, as the plane flew at 16,000 feet (4,800 meters). Oxygen masks dropped during the rapid decompression, a few cell phones and other objects were swept through the hole in the plane, passengers were terrified by wind and roaring noise, but miraculously no one was injured.
The pilots landed safely back in Portland. The door plug was found in a high school science teacher’s backyard in Cedar Hills, Oregon.
No one from the airline was called to testify this week before the NTSB. Goglia, the former safety board member, said that indicates the agency has determined “that Alaska has no dirty hands in this.”
Tension remains high between the NTSB and Boeing, however. Two months after the accident, board Chair Jennifer Homendy and Boeing got into a public argument over whether the company was cooperating with investigators.
That spat was largely smoothed over, but in June a Boeing executive angered the board by discussing the investigation with reporters and — even worse in the agency’s view — suggesting that the NTSB was interested in finding someone to blame for the blowout.
NTSB officials see their role as identifying the cause of accidents to prevent similar ones in the future. They are not prosecutors, and they fear that witnesses won’t come forward if they think NTSB is looking for culprits.
So the NTSB issued a subpoena for Boeing representatives while stripping the company of its customary right to ask questions during the hearing.
The accident led to several investigations of Boeing, most of which are still underway.
The FBI has told passengers on the Alaska Airlines flight that they might be victims of a crime. The Justice Department pushed Boeing to plead guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit fraud after finding that it failed to live up to a previous settlement related to regulatory approval of the Max.
Boeing, which has yet to recover financially from two deadly crashes of Max jets in 2018 and 2019, has lost more than $25 billion since the start of 2019. Later this week, the company will get its third chief executive in 4 1/2 years.
Testimony from NTSB hearings is not admissible in court, but lawyers suing Boeing over this and other accidents will be watching, knowing that they can seek depositions from witnesses to cover the same ground.
“Our cases are already solid — door plugs shouldn’t blow out during a flight,” said one of those lawyers, Mark Lindquist of Seattle. “Our cases grow even stronger, however, if the blowout was the result of habitually shoddy practices. Are jurors going to see this as negligence or something worse?”
veryGood! (9)
Related
- Mega Millions winning numbers for November 12 drawing: Jackpot rises to $361 million
- Bow Down to Anne Hathaway's Princess Diaries-Inspired Look at the 2024 SAG Awards
- Kodai Senga receives injection in right shoulder. What does it mean for Mets starter?
- How to watch and stream 'Where is Wendy Williams?' documentary on Lifetime
- Judith Jamison, a dancer both eloquent and elegant, led Ailey troupe to success over two decades
- Honor for Chris Chelios in Patrick Kane's Chicago return is perfect for Detroit Red Wings
- ‘Past Lives,’ ‘American Fiction’ and ‘The Holdovers’ are big winners at Independent Spirit Awards
- SAG Awards 2024 winners list: 'Oppenheimer' wins 3, including outstanding ensemble cast
- Demure? Brain rot? Oxford announces shortlist for 2024 Word of the Year: Cast your vote
- Why AP called South Carolina for Trump: Race call explained
Ranking
- Pete Alonso's best free agent fits: Will Mets bring back Polar Bear?
- Men's March Madness bubble winners and losers: Wake Forest picks up major tournament boost
- Winter Cup 2024 highlights: All the results, best moments from USA Gymnastics event
- Florida mom describes rescue after being held captive by estranged husband: I'd been pulled from hell
- Olivia Munn began randomly drug testing John Mulaney during her first pregnancy
- Republicans running for Senate seek to navigate IVF stance after Alabama ruling
- Vigils held across U.S. for nonbinary Oklahoma teen who died following school bathroom fight
- Inexpensive Clothing Basics on Amazon that Everyone Needs in Their Wardrobe STAT
Recommendation
-
The Office's Kate Flannery Defends John Krasinski's Sexiest Man Alive Win
-
Alpha Elite Capital (AEC) Business Management
-
Conservative megadonors Koch not funding Haley anymore as she continues longshot bid
-
Eva Mendes Showcases Purrfect Style During Rare Appearance at Dolce & Gabbana Fashion Show
-
SNL's Chloe Fineman Says Rude Elon Musk Made Her Burst Into Tears as Show Host
-
United Airlines is raising its checked bag fees. Here's how much more it will cost you.
-
Eric Bieniemy set to become next offensive coordinator at UCLA, per report
-
The next sports power couple? Livvy Dunne's boyfriend Paul Skenes is top MLB prospect