Boeing Co. has refused to debrief investigators who worked on a door plug that later exploded during the jetliner’s flight, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday.
The company also hasn’t provided documentation about the repair work, which involves removing and reinstalling panels on the Boeing 737 Max 9, or even whether Boeing keeps records, Jennifer Homendy said. told a Senate committee.
“It’s unreasonable to not have it after two months,” Homendy said. At Boeing, “without that information raises concerns about quality assurance, quality control, and safety management systems.”
Deputies seemed stunned.
“That’s completely unacceptable,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Boeing has come under increased scrutiny since a Jan. 5 accident on an Alaska Airlines Max 9 plane that blew off a panel blocking the space left for an emergency door.
The pilot was able to land safely and there were no injuries.
The NTSB said in a preliminary report last month that four bolts holding the door plug in place were missing after workers removed the panel last September to repair a nearby broken rivet. .
Repairs to the rivets were performed by a contractor from Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems, but the NTSB does not yet know who removed and replaced the door panels, Homendy said Wednesday.
Boeing has a 25-member team led by a manager, Homendy said, but Boeing has refused repeated requests for their names for questioning by investigators.
Security camera footage that could have shown who removed the panels was erased and recorded more than 30 days later, she said.
The Federal Aviation Administration recently gave Boeing 90 days to state how it will respond to quality control issues raised by the agency and a panel of industry and government experts.
The committee found problems with Boeing’s safety culture, despite improvements made after two Max 8 jetliners crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people.
