The Alaska Airlines plane whose door was blown off mid-air appears to have been missing bolts that were supposed to be installed by Boeing employees when it rolled off the aircraft manufacturer’s assembly line, according to reports.
An investigation into the incident revealed that Boeing employees replaced the bolt that sealed the plug door on the 737 Max 9, which was torn off while flying at 16,000 feet over Oregon on a Jan. 5 flight to California. It became clear that he might have forgotten. According to the Wall Street Journal.
The 737 Max 9’s fuselage was delivered by Wichita, Kansas-based supplier SpiritAeroSystems, and the plug door was manufactured at a factory in Malaysia.
According to multiple reports, Boeing employees opened and removed the plug door after the plane was delivered to a Seattle-area factory for final assembly.
The Journal reported that investigators believe the lack of marks on the plug door suggests that Boeing personnel did not replace the bolt as required.
More definitive findings are expected to be announced after metallurgical analysis by the National Transportation Safety Board.
The analysis will likely determine whether the bolts on the plug door were tightened as required, the magazine reported.
“As the aviation safety agency responsible for investigating this accident, only the National Transportation Safety Board can release information regarding the investigation,” a Boeing spokesperson told the Post.
“As a party to this investigation, Boeing cannot comment and will refer any information to the NTSB.”
A Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson told the Post that the agency “continues to assist” the NTSB in its investigation.
“The NTSB is in charge of the investigation and will provide updates as they become available,” an FAA spokesperson said.
An NTSB spokesperson told the Post, “We have not confirmed media reports. We plan to release factual information from our investigation later this week.”
Last week, Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci told NBC News that loose bolts were found in “many” of Boeing’s 737 Max 9 planes.
The Post has reached out to the NTSB and SpiritAero Systems for comment.
The accident was a blow to Boeing, whose stock price plummeted more than 20% last month.
The Seattle-based company’s stock was trading 0.6% lower as of 10:30 a.m. ET Monday.
United Airlines announced Saturday that it has resumed using its 737 Max 9 aircraft for passenger flights after the FAA gave it the go-ahead following a mid-air cabin explosion.
United said its first Max 9 flight since Jan. 6 departed from Newark around 10:30 a.m. ET with 175 passengers and six crew members.
The Chicago-based airline announced that several passenger flights were operated using the Max 9 on Saturday.
Alaska Airlines resumed operating Max 9 flights on Friday.
Constance von Muehlen, the airline’s chief operating officer, was on board the first Max 9 flight, next to the window in the same row where the eruption occurred on the previous flight, CBS News reported. I was sitting in
In the wake of the Alaska Airlines near disaster, the FAA ordered the grounding of 171 Max 9 jets in circulation, resulting in the cancellation of thousands of Alaska Airlines and United Airlines flights.
The FAA lifted the grounding order Wednesday after approving new inspections and maintenance checks, giving Boeing the option to expand production of the 737 MAX or add new 737 production lines pending quality improvements. He said that it is not possible to do so.
Alaska Airlines announced Friday that it expects testing of the Max 9 to be completed by the end of next week, allowing the plane to fly on its full schedule.
The grounding affected approximately 20% of the fleet.
Boeing Commercial Airlines President Stan Diehl told employees late Friday that the company has been “working diligently” to develop testing standards that would allow the planes to return to service, and that Boeing is currently He said he was evaluating “hundreds” of ideas submitted by people. Improvement of quality.
with post wire
