New Report Indicates Boeing Reinstalled Alaska Airlines Door Plug

The Seattle Times reported today (Jan. 24) that “a person familiar with the details of the work” said Boeing mechanics in Renton, Washington, improperly reinstalled the now-infamous fuselage door plug on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, a Boeing 737. The Times also reported that the FAA has blocked Boeing's plan to increase production of the MAXes and approved Boeing's latest instructions for airlines to inspect the affected aircraft so they can be returned to service.

So far, it has been unclear whether the plug had been installed on the production line at fuselage manufacturer Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kansas, and never removed, or whether Boeing employees had removed the door. The new information indicates Spirit AeroSystems asked Boeing to remove the door plug for rivet work and that Boeing was responsible for reinstalling the panel.

Today’s report supports a narrative last week from another anonymous whistleblower, self-described as a “Boeing insider.” That person said that Boeing’s own records show that four bolts designed to keep the door plug from sliding upward and off the door-frame stop pads were not installed before the aircraft was delivered to Alaska Airlines.

According to the paper, the whistleblower blasted Boeing’s quality control standards: “The reason the door blew off is stated in black and white in Boeing’s own records. It is also very, very stupid and speaks volumes about the quality culture at certain portions of the business.” Though the work should have been verified by a Boeing quality inspector, the whistleblower wrote, the inspection never happened due to a two-system record-keeping process.

Following unusually harsh public criticism from the CEOs of Boeing’s 737 MAX-9 customers Alaska Airlines (Ben Minicucci) and United Airlines (Scott Kirby), Boeing announced that assemblers on the 737 production line would interrupt work on Thursday (Jan. 25) to hold quality-control focus sessions.