The National Transportation Safety Board says Boeing has not been able to produce documents showing which employees worked on the door plug that blew out midair on an Alaska Airlines flight.
Federal accident investigators still don’t know which employees worked on the door plug that blew out on an Alaska Airlines flight in January — because manufacturer Boeing didn’t keep track of the work, investigators said.
The independent National Transportation Safety Board said it has repeatedly asked Boeing for the names of people who worked on the door plug, including during a public hearing before Congress last week. NTSB leader Jennifer Homendy said Wednesday that Boeing had finally answered — but that her agency was no closer to getting the information.
“Boeing has informed us that they are unable to find the records documenting this work,” Homendy said in the letter addressed to Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who had insisted at the hearing that Boeing respond within a week. She added that Boeing CEO David Calhoun told her that the company “has no records of the work being performed.”
Boeing declined to address Homendy’s specific assertions, instead providing a statement saying it will continue to support the NTSB’s investigation “in the transparent and proactive fashion we have supported all regulatory inquiries into this accident.”
It’s another potential embarrassment for America’s premier plane manufacturer, which is again facing a series of probes and a Justice Department investigation, all of which are spooking its airline customers. Much of the scrutiny focused on Boeing and its 737 MAX fuselage contractor, Spirit AeroSystems, involves allegations of poor quality control.
Boeing first gave NTSB names of individuals in February, but only those who Boeing felt “may provide insight” regarding the work, she said. Then, Homendy said that on March 6, Boeing gave her agency a list of all personnel working on the 737 MAX line at Boeing’s facility in Renton, Washington, but had not identified who specifically worked on the door plug despite repeated requests.
“After NTSB received this list, I called [Calhoun] and asked for the names of the people who performed the work. He stated he was unable to provide that information and maintained that Boeing has no records of the work being performed,” Homendy wrote.
Homendy said that in addition, security camera footage that would have helped answer the question had been “overwritten.” A Boeing spokesperson said the company follows “standard practice” of overwriting footage on a 30-day rolling basis.
TSB additionally sent a letter to Boeing on Wednesday scolding the aerospace company for potentially disclosing information about the board’s ongoing investigation, which if true would breach the agreement Boeing signed allowing NTSB to be the sole public voice about the investigation.
“Before the NTSB’s adoption of the final report regarding this accident, only appropriate NTSB personnel are authorized to publicly disclose investigative information and, even then, the disclosure is limited to factual information verified during the course of the investigation,” wrote NTSB Director of Aviation Safety Tim LeBaron, who noted that the prohibition also extends to off-the-record statements.
Responding to LeBaron’s letter, Boeing said it has “worked hard to honor the rules” and will continue to do so when releasing investigative information, which has “intense interest from our employees, customers, and other stakeholders.”