NTSB Chair Not Pleased With Boeing’s Cooperation On Door Plug Probe

National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy angrily testified today (March 6) during a Senate hearing that “Boeing has not provided us with the documents and information that we have requested numerous times over the past few months.” She referred to the NTSB investigation into the in-flight departure of a door plug from an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX airliner.

As reported in the Seattle Times, the NTSB investigation has revealed that a team of Boeing workers who specialize in servicing the door plugs on the assembly line in Seattle were assigned to enable three visiting contract workers engaged by Spirit Aerosystems to access and repair faulty rivets in the door plug area. When the plug was replaced after the rivet work was done, the Boeing team left out four critical bolts, causing the door to eventually work free and depart from the aircraft during a passenger flight at 16,000 feet.

Homendy criticized Boeing during the hearing for not providing documentation of the work that the Boeing team performed and also complained of a lack of cooperation in enabling the NTSB to interview members of the team and the manager of the crew.

Homendy said, “The manager has been out on medical leave, we’ve not been able to interview that individual. We’ve asked for the names of the other 25 people, have not received the names.

“We don’t have the records. We don’t have the names of the 25 people. It’s absurd that two months later, we don’t have that.”

Boeing responded today that the work on the door plug might not have been recorded. “With respect to documentation, if the door plug removal was undocumented there would be no documentation to share.” In a statement immediately following the Senate hearing, Boeing wrote: “We have now provided the full list of individuals on the 737 door team, in response to a recent request.”

Further cooperation by those involved could be hampered by an ongoing criminal investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice into the incident. Boeing or Spirit AeroSystems workers could refuse to talk openly to the NTSB out of concern over possible self-incrimination. Homendy said, “Where it becomes a concern for us is when employees and others don’t feel safe to speak with us.”