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The fuselage panel that broke off from an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 plane on Jan. 5 was removed for improper repair and reinstallation by Boeing mechanics at the final assembly line in Renton, the Seattle reported Times, citing a person familiar with the matter. If the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation confirms this, responsibility for the accident will fall primarily on Boeing and not on its supplier Spirit AeroSystems, which originally installed the panel in the fuselage of the 737 MAX 9 in Wichita, Kansas.
The CEO of Boeing, Dave Calhoun, responding to journalists as he entered Capitol Hill for a hearing on the grounding of the 737 Max 9 after the Alaska Airlines crash, declared: “We don’t put planes in flight that we aren’t 100% sure about.” .
The panel, a door plug used to seal a hole in the fuselage sometimes used as an emergency exit, exploded on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 as it took off from Portland on Jan. 5. The accident has raised criticism of the quality control systems and safety culture at Boeing, which has come under detailed scrutiny from American authorities after two fatal 737 MAX crashes five years ago.
Spirit shares are up 4.5 percent while Boeing shares are losing 0.4 percent.
Inspections continue and Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci, speaking on US television NBC, said that following independent checks of the airline’s MAX 9 fleet, it was revealed that “many” planes had loose bolts around the caps of the doors. At the moment the 65 Alaska Airlines Max 9s are still on the ground. In his first interview after the near-disaster, Minicucci explained that he was “more than frustrated” after the accident which further tarnished Boeing’s reputation. «I am more than frustrated and disappointed. I am angry. And my question to Boeing is what will it do to improve its quality programs » he said in the interview.