The head of the National Transportation Safety Board has warned that a mid-air door explosion similar to the near-fatal one last month on a Boeing 737 MAX 9 plane “could happen again.”
“Of course, something like this could happen again,” says NTSB’s Jennifer Homendy. Speaking on “CNN This Morning” It was broadcast on Wednesday.
“There is no way this plane could have been delivered without four safety-critical bolts,” Homendy added, noting that “there was a problem in the manufacturing process.”
Homendy’s announcement comes just two days after the Federal Aviation Administration announced that about 94% of the planes (135 of 144) had been inspected and cleared to fly. I was discouraged.
There are only two US airlines operating the MAX 9 Boeing model: Alaska Airlines and United Airlines.
Separately Tuesday, a preliminary report into the Jan. 5 explosion on the Alaska Airlines flight blamed the horrific accident on four missing bolts that held the door plug in place. There is.
Until then, the NTSB had not said what caused the panel to rip off the jet, operated by Alaska Airlines, as it climbed to 16,000 feet after taking off from Portland, Oregon.
This incident represents a full-blown safety and reputational crisis for Boeing. Boeing has been notified by supplier Spirit AeroSystems of additional manufacturing issues with approximately 50 undelivered 737 MAX 9 planes.
Split Aerosystems told Boeing on Sunday that a number of the planes had holes that were accidentally drilled, which would require additional work and expected short-term aircraft delays.
Despite Homendy’s assessment of the flat tire, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun held back tears as he admitted the company’s “mistake” during an all-hands meeting, but the NTSB chief said he wouldn’t worry about flying the MAX 9. said.
“I think they were thoroughly tested,” Homendy told CNN. “Tomorrow he will have no problem flying on a MAX 9.”
The Post reached out to the NTSB for comment, which reportedly has “begun an investigation.” [in]We submitted it to the FAA’s Boeing Oversight Committee,” Homendy said.
He also said the NTSB needs to do a better job of “digging into what’s going on at Boeing,” and said during Federal Aviation Secretary Michael Whitaker’s testimony before Congress on Tuesday that the agency He pointed out that he agrees with what he said about being overly dependent. According to CNN, they are calling for aircraft manufacturers like Boeing to regulate themselves.
Boeing catches up on ongoing plane debacle
Boeing has recently been plagued by safety concerns that began after a door panel on a Boeing 737 MAX 9 jet blew off on January 5 during a flight from Oregon to California.
The plane, operated by Alaska Airlines, appeared to be missing four key bolts, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby has announced that he is leaving Boeing after the nearly catastrophic door explosion at Alaska Airlines grounded Boeing’s Max 9 planes. I threatened to shun him.
Disaster struck again a week later, after a Boeing plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Japan due to a cracked cockpit window.
Shocking photos have recently confirmed that British passengers became alarmed after noticing pieces of tape stuck to the exterior of a Boeing 787 during a flight to India. “It started peeling off during the flight. I thought, ‘What?!'” exclaimed the startled Brit. “I pointed it out to the young lady, and she just said, ‘I wish I hadn’t shown you that.'”
A Boeing 757 lost its front tire in late January while preparing to depart for an international flight. At Atlanta International Airport, a Delta Airlines flight bound for Bogota, Colombia, was taxiing across the runway to takeoff when another plane alerted the control tower to an abnormality.
Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary previously said he had “loudly complained” to Boeing over quality control.
“The current system is failing because it does not provide safe aircraft,” Whittaker added. “So we need to make some changes to this.”
“I totally agree that things need to change,” Homendy told CNN, adding that the issue is more of a “quality control issue” and goes beyond last month’s Alaska Airlines plane explosion. Ta.
