Whitaker will appear before an investigative subcommittee of the Senate Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on September 25 to discuss the FAA’s oversight of Boeing after a new Max 9 went through Boeing’s Renton, Washington, assembly plant and was delivered without four bolts that secured the door plug.

• READ MORE: NTSB Grills Boeing Over Max 9 Door Plug Loss

On January 5, the door plug detached while the plane was climbing out of Portland, Oregon, on an Alaska Airlines flight to California.

Boeing has already testified in June before lawmakers in trying to explain how that error happened despite its safeguards. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who chairs the committee, suggested Whitaker is in for a rough ride next week.

“Instead of encouraging workers to report quality and safety concerns, Boeing’s culture pushed workers to conceal problems that required federal inspectors’ attention,” Blumenthal said. “The FAA has to explain what they knew and when they knew it. Boeing’s broken safety culture is in desperate need of repair, and the FAA has an essential role to play.”

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on AVweb.

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Testifying before the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chair Jennifer Homendy said that despite numerous requests, NTSB has not received the names of 25 people working at the company’s Renton, Washington, facility responsible for opening, closing, and removing the door plug involved in the January 5 event or documentation supporting their work.

“Wow,” responded the committee’s ranking member, Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who asked for the update. “Are you telling us that even two months later you still do not know who actually opened the door plug?”

“That’s correct—and it’s not for lack of trying,” Homendy said, pointing out that it’s not unusual when critical information is not provided immediately after an investigation.

“But for this one, we know for a fact that there is a team that deals with the doors in Renton. The manager has been out on medical leave, so we’ve not been able to interview that individual. We’ve asked for the names of the other 25 people and have not received the names. We’ve asked for the records with respect to what occurred. We asked what shift did it occur on. It’s absurd that two months later we don’t have that.”

• READ MORE: FAA Gives Boeing 90 Days to Improve

When asked by committee chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) whether Boeing has a policy of maintaining documents on work such as installing or removing doors and door plugs, Homendy said the NTSB has not been able to verify that with Boeing.

“And without that information, that raises concerns about quality assurance, quality management, and safety management systems within Boeing,” Homendy said.

Said Cantwell: “It’s beyond disappointing. We have an entire economy that depends on people getting this right, and it seems like this…is stymying your investigation.”

Shortly after the hearing ended, Boeing responded to FLYING’s request for comment with a statement asserting that the company “early in the investigation” provided NTSB with names of employees, including door specialists, that it believed had relevant information.

“We have now provided the full list of individuals on the 737 door team, in response to a recent request. With respect to documentation, if the door plug removal was undocumented there would be no documentation to share. We will continue to cooperate fully and transparently with the NTSB’s investigation.”

Spirit AeroSystems Called Out

Homendy also testified to transparency problems with Spirit AeroSystems, the Wichita, Kansas-based manufacturer of fuselages for the Boeing 737. Spirit has also been part of the investigation.

Referring to individuals that NTSB believed were employed by Spirit, “we were just informed last week that they’re actually not Spirit employees, they’re contractors,” she told the committee. “All three people work for three different entities.”

NTSB was not informed of that by Spirit. “That information was told to us through the individuals being interviewed that contacted us directly. We have engaged our attorney on this matter, just so that you’re aware,” she said.

Spirit representative Joe Buccino told FLYING that, as a party to the NTSB investigation, “we are unable to comment on any matters associated with the investigation. We are coordinating with the NTSB to address the chair’s comments regarding this matter.”

• READ MORE: Boeing Confirms Discussions About Acquiring Spirit AeroSystems

Cruz, who called the lack of response from Boeing “utterly unacceptable,” asked Homendy to inform the committee in writing whether or not the aerospace giant provides the information requested by NTSB by March 13.

“This investigation needs to get to the bottom of what occurred, and what caused the accident,” Cruz said.

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“I am announcing several leadership changes as we continue driving BCA’s [Boeing Commercial Airplane] enhanced focus on ensuring that every airplane we deliver meets or exceeds all quality and safety requirements,” Deal said in the email. “Our customers demand, and deserve, nothing less.”

For starters, Ed Clark, the vice president of the 737 Max program in Renton, Washington, is leaving after approximately 18 years with Boeing. His departure comes just more than a month and a half after a Renton-built Boeing 737 Max 9 lost a door plug shortly after takeoff from Portland International Airport (KPDX) in Oregon.

According to the preliminary investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the bolts that were supposed to have been installed to hold the door plug in place had been removed in order to perform quality control maintenance at the Renton plant and were never reinstalled.

There were no serious injuries from the January 5 event. As the Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 passed through 16,000 feet, the door plug departed the aircraft. The blowout tore up the cabin, ejected loose objects, and twisted seat frames. Since the incident Boeing and its suppliers have been under the microscope as questions are raised about quality control and oversight at the aerospace manufacturing giant’s commercial aircraft division.

• READ MORE: Alaska Airlines Grounds 737 Max Fleet Following Explosive Decompression

According to Deal’s email to employees, Katie Ringgold, who has enjoyed a long career at Boeing, including having spent the past four years as vice president of 737 delivery operations, will succeed Clark as vice president and general manager of the 737 program and Renton site.

“Ringgold’s replacement as vice president, 737 delivery operations, will be named soon,” Deal said.

The email goes on to name Elizabeth Lund to the new position of senior vice president for BCA quality.

“She will lead our quality control and quality assurance efforts, as well as the quality initiatives we recently announced, within BCA and the supply chain,” Deal said. “Elizabeth is uniquely qualified for this position, given her extensive leadership experience and knowledge of our airplane programs, production system, engineering, and supply chain.”

Lund will report to Deal and serve on the company’s executive council as chair of the Boeing Quality Operations Council.

Deal said Boeing’s Carole Murray, who has been with the company for 12 years as a key player in the 787 program as well as serving as vice president of BCA total quality, is “now on special assignment to help the company achieve a smooth transition and… focus on accelerating our quality initiatives.”

Mike Fleming, a leader in Boeing’s customer support division, is succeeding Lund as senior vice president and general manager of airplane programs. According to the company, Fleming is tasked with overseeing the 737, 767, 777/777X, and 787 production programs and will continue leading the customer support team with an emphasis on meeting operational needs while working to implement company quality initiatives to minimize rework and traveled work in Boeing’s factories.

Fleming will report to Deal and serve on the executive council as chair of the Program Management Operations Council. 

Don Ruhmann, formerly 787 chief project engineer, will succeed Fleming as vice president of development programs and will also report to Deal. Ruhmann’s replacement has yet to be named.

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“I think we’re also going to look at a culture survey that’s due at the end of the month and make a determination of how many folks we need on the ground in both places,” Whitaker told lawmakers on Tuesday during testimony before the House Transportation & Infrastructures’ aviation subcommittee.

“We haven’t made that determination, but I do anticipate we’ll want to keep people on the ground there. We don’t know how many yet, but we do think that presence will be warranted.”

Whitaker said the agency has 20 inspectors at Boeing facilities and “half a dozen” at Spirit.

The increased presence at Boeing, Whitaker said, “is to allow us to have direct conversations with employees about pressures they might be feeling or instructions they might be getting, and what incentives they’re dealing with.”

He also said Boeing has been informed that the FAA will not grant production expansion of 737 Max units “until we’re satisfied that quality control issues uncovered during this process are resolved.”

The FAA’s ramped-up oversight of Boeing and Spirit, a key Boeing supplier, was initiated in the aftermath of the January 5 incident in which a mid-cabin door plug blew out of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282. The 737-9 Max had been en route from Portland International Airport (KPDX) in Oregon, to Ontario, California (KONT). Only minor injuries were sustained as a result of the accident.

• READ MORE: Additional Passengers Sue Alaska Airlines, Boeing

Asked about the most recent 737 Max setback involving incorrectly improperly drilled holes in fuselages built at Spirit’s Wichita, Kansas, facility and shipped to Boeing’s Renton, Washington, plant for final assembly by Boeing, Whitaker told lawmakers that the FAA is working with Boeing to understand what happened.

“These are small rivets that hold a window in place,” he said. “We know it’s not [built] to compliance, but we want to understand why it has not been manufactured per design. Then we’ll see what corrective actions need to be taken to repair the windows and when that has to happen.”

Whitaker Pushed on Mandatory Pilot Retirement

While not a member of the aviation subcommittee, U.S. Representative Troy Nehls (R-Texas) was provided wide discretion by committee leadership to grill Whitaker on his agency’s alleged opposition to legislation raising the mandatory retirement age for commercial pilots from 65 to 67.

Nehls read from a letter the FAA sent Monday to the Senate Commerce Committee that Nehls interpreted as opposing implementing the legislation—if Congress were to pass it—without conducting studies beforehand.

“Our official position is that we don’t have a position on the retirement age, but if it changes, we’d like to have data to support the change,” Whitaker said.

• READ MORE: House Committee Votes to Push Back Pilot Retirement Age 2 Years

But Nehls pointed out that pilots for Part 135 operators are already flying past age 65.

In addition, he said, other countries, including Japan, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada, all allow pilots to fly past the age of 65 with no evidence of safety issues. “Why don’t you just call them and ask them [about their safety records],” Nehls said.

“My intent [in sending the letter to the Senate] was to oppose the legislation but to identify issues around international compliance and data on what it means to raise the age,” Whitaker said.

The Senate is expected this week to take up the provision to raise the retirement age as part of a markup of the 2023 FAA reauthorization, which the chamber failed to pass by the September deadline. The House passed its version of the 2023 reauthorization in July.

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The 19-page report, released Tuesday by the NTSB, noted the four bolts that are supposed to hold the door plug in place were removed for maintenance at the factory before delivery of the jet but never reinstalled. The aircraft had flown 510 hours without having the door plug properly secured.

• READ MORE: NTSB Reports No Bolts in Blown Out 737 Max Door

The Details

On January 5 shortly after takeoff from Portland International Airport (KPDX) in Oregon, Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 lost the mid-exit door (MED) plug as the aircraft climbed through 16,000 feet. The loss of the door plug resulted in violent decompression, but no serious injuries to the 177 persons on board. The flight crew declared an emergency and returned to Portland with a refrigerator-sized hole in the side of the aircraft.

“An event like this must not happen on an airplane that leaves our factory,” Calhoun said. “We simply must do better for our customers and their passengers. We are implementing a comprehensive plan to strengthen quality and the confidence of our stakeholders. It will take significant, demonstrated action and transparency at every turn—and that is where we are squarely focused.”

In a statement to the media, Boeing outlined immediate action items it is undertaking to strengthen quality.

“First and foremost, the company has implemented a control plan to ensure all 737-9 mid-exit door plugs are installed according to specifications by instituting new inspections of the door plug assembly and similar structures at our supplier’s factory and on Boeing’s production line, and adding signage and protocol to fully document when the door plug is opened or removed in our factory, ensuring it is reinstalled and inspected prior to delivery,” the statement said.

“Boeing is also taking steps to improve overall quality and stability across the 737 production system. These steps include layering additional inspections into the Boeing supply chain,  more communication and collaboration with suppliers on production enhancements, performing more work on the aircraft at their assigned positions, setting aside multiple days for 737 teams to focus on implement quality improvements, adding independent assessment to bolster the quality management system at Boeing Commercial Airplanes by a highly experienced safety expert.

“In addition to these Boeing actions, we are opening our factory to 737 customers to conduct their own additional reviews and will fully and transparently support the FAA’s investigation, audit, and oversight actions.”

Said Calhoun: “This added scrutiny—from ourselves, from our regulator, and from our customers—will make us better. It’s that simple.”  

The NTSB is continuing its investigation.

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Last summer the FAA issued an airworthiness directive (AD) focused on the deicing system of the Max 7, the smallest of the Boeing 737 Max models. 

According to the AD, the FAA has concerns that if the deicing system is left for too long, there is a possibility it will overheat, potentially causing parts of the engine to break up and become shrapnel that could penetrate the fuselage and injure passengers or damage the aircraft’s wings or tail, resulting in a loss of control of the airplane.

According to the Seattle Times, after the FAA released the AD, Boeing asserted that the agency’s scenario was “extremely improbable,” noting that the FAA allowed the Max 8 and Max 9 currently in service to continue to fly but with a directive to pilots that they must turn off the deicing system after leaving icing conditions and not fly with it on for more than five minutes in dry air.

The exemption would have allowed Boeing to move the Max 7 into passenger service more quickly. Without the exemption, the passenger certification of the Max 7 will be delayed until Boeing can address the deicing issue, which may include a design change.

Boeing has received increased scrutiny since the January 5 incident involving a door plug blowout on a Max 9 aircraft. Although there were no serious injuries reported, the event rattled the confidence of the flying public and put the aircraft manufacturing giant’s workplace culture under the microscope.

• READ MORE: FAA Cracks Down on Boeing

“While we are confident that the proposed time-limited exemption for that system follows established FAA processes to ensure safe operation, we will instead incorporate an engineering solution that will be completed during the certification process,” Boeing said in a statement to FLYING. “As always, the FAA will determine the timing of certification, and we will follow their lead every step of the way. We’re committed to being transparent, listening to all our stakeholders, and taking action to strengthen safety and quality at Boeing.”

For carriers such as Southwest Airlines, which has an order for 302 of the jets on the books, this means their deliveries will be pushed out indefinitely.

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According to a statement from the FAA, the agency has “approved a thorough inspection and maintenance process that must be performed” on all 171 grounded Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft. The statement notes that “upon successful completion, the aircraft will be eligible to return to service.”

Within hours of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 losing a door plug shortly after an early evening takeoff from Portland International Airport (KPDX) in Oregon, the airline grounded its 737 Max 9 fleet as a precaution. The model makes up approximately 20 percent of Alaska’s fleet.

FAA Administer Mike Whitaker noted that the agency grounded the 737 Max 9 on a national scale within hours of the event and “made clear this aircraft would not go back into service until it was safe.”

Whitaker continued: “The exhaustive, enhanced review our team completed after several weeks of information gathering gives me and the FAA confidence to proceed to the inspection and maintenance phase. However, let me be clear: This won’t be back to business as usual for Boeing. We will not agree to any request from Boeing for an expansion in production or approve additional production lines for the 737 Max until we are satisfied that the quality control issues uncovered during this process are resolved.”

In addition, the FAA has “ramped up oversight of Boeing and its suppliers”.

New Instructions from the FAA

Per the statement from the FAA, the agency reviewed data compiled from 40 inspections of grounded aircraft and used it to create a detailed set of inspection and maintenance instructions. It also convened a Corrective Action Review Board (CARB) “made up of safety experts [that] scrutinized and approved the inspection and maintenance process.”

The agency stressed that “following the completion of the enhanced maintenance and inspection process on each aircraft, the door plugs on the 737 Max 9 will be in compliance with the original design which is safe to operate….This aircraft will not operate until the process is complete and compliance with the original design is confirmed.”

Per the FAA, the enhanced maintenance process requires:

• Inspection of specific bolts, guide tracks and fittings
• Detailed visual inspections of left and right mid-cabin exit door plugs and dozens of associated components
• Retorquing fasteners
• Correcting any damage or abnormal conditions

FAA Holding Boeing Accountable

The FAA is also increasing oversight of Boeing’s production lines.

“The quality assurance issues we have seen are unacceptable,” Whitaker said. “That is why we will have more boots on the ground closely scrutinizing and monitoring production and manufacturing activities.” 

Increased oversight activities include: 

• Capping expanded production of new Boeing 737 Max aircraft to ensure accountability and full compliance with required quality control procedures
• Launching an investigation scrutinizing Boeing’s compliance with manufacturing requirements. The FAA will use the full extent of its enforcement authority to ensure the company is held accountable for any non-compliance.
• Aggressively expanding oversight of new aircraft with increased floor presence at all Boeing facilities
• Closely monitoring data to identify risk
• Launching an analysis of potential safety-focused reforms around quality control and delegation

The agency will continue to work closely with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) as it continues the investigation into Alaska Airlines Flight 1282. One of the key questions to be answered is if the bolts that are designed to hold the door plug in place were installed correctly, if at all, at the time of the accident.

• READ MORE: NTSB Identifies Part That Failed on 737 Max 9

FAA Waiting for Boeing Safety Review

In early 2023, the agency convened 24 experts to review Boeing’s safety management processes with an eye toward how they affect the aircraft manufacturing giant’s safety culture.

Per the FAA statement, “the review panel included representatives from NASA, the FAA, labor unions, independent engineering experts, air carriers, manufacturers with delegated authority, legal experts and others.”

The panel reviewed thousands of documents and interviewed more than 250 Boeing employees, managers, and executives, Boeing supplier employees, and FAA employees, and visited several Boeing sites as well as Spirit AeroSystems’ facility in Wichita, Kansas.

The report is expected to be released in a few weeks. The FAA will be using the information to determine if additional action is required.

In response to the FAA, Boeing released a statement: “We will continue to cooperate fully and transparently with the FAA and follow their direction as we take action to strengthen safety and quality at Boeing. We will also work closely with our airline customers as they complete the required inspection procedures to safely return their 737-9 airplanes to service.”

• READ MORE: Boeing to Shut Down Facility for a Day

In addition, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) announced she will conduct congressional hearings to investigate the alleged “safety lapses” that may have led to the loss of the door plug from the ill-fated flight.

“[The public and workers deserve] a culture of leadership at Boeing that puts safety ahead of profits,” Cantwell said.

Airlines Reply

According to aviation data provider Cirium.com, there are approximately 215 Max 9 aircraft in use around the world. Of those, 79 belong to United Airlines and 65 to Alaska Airlines. Both airlines experienced flight cancellations and delays following the FAA’s grounding of the jets.

During the grounding the airlines complied with an FAA mandate to inspect their fleets of Max 9s, and the data collected from these inspections has been evaluated by the agency and used to develop its orders for final inspection of the aircraft, which is required to return them to airworthy status.

• READ MORE: United Airlines Says It’s Disappointed in Boeing

In a statement, Alaska Airlines noted “each of our aircraft will only return to service once the rigorous inspections are completed and each aircraft is deemed airworthy, according to the FAA requirements. We have 65 737-9 Max in our fleet. The inspections are expected to take up to 12 hours for each plane.”

Alaska Airlines predicts the first of the Max 9s will resume flying on Friday, “with more planes added every day as inspections are completed and each aircraft is deemed airworthy.”

Toby Enqvist, United’s executive vice president and chief operations officer, said the airline began inspection of its Max 9 fleet on January 12. In a message to United employees, Enqvist outlined the process, which includes removing the inner panel, two rows of seats, and the sidewall liner, enabling workers to access the doors and “inspect and verify the proper installation of the door and frame hardware, as well as the area around the door and seal.”

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In an internal communication sent to employees of Boeing’s Commercial Airplanes division, division CEO Stan Deal said this was the first of many quality stand-down days for the factories involved in the 737 program.

“Production, delivery, and support efforts will pause for a day, so teammates can take part in working sessions focused on quality,” Deal said. “The sessions allow all teammates who touch the airplane to ‘pause, evaluate what we’re doing, how we’re doing it, and make recommendations for improvement.’

“During the stand-downs, teammates will participate in hands-on learning, reflection, and collaboration to identify where quality and compliance can be improved and create actionable plans that will be tracked to closure.”

Quality Stand-Downs will be held over the next several weeks at other Boeing factories and fabrication sites to include all airplane programs.

According to the Seattle Times, a whistleblower at the Renton plant allegedly has paperwork that claims the door plug was removed for repair from the fuselage of the Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 that lost the plug in flight, then reinstalled without the required four bolts that hold the door in place. If the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation confirms this, the blame for the event would fall on Boeing, rather than Spirit AeroSystems, the makers of the 737 fuselages.

• READ MORE: Alaska Airlines Grounds 737 Max Fleet Following Explosive Decompression

The aircraft was delivered to Alaska Airlines in October 2023. It did not have enough time in the air for it to be subject to a so-called “heavy maintenance” cycle.

The door plug was found in the backyard of a Portland, Oregon, area schoolteacher. It has been sent to the NTSB laboratory in Washington, D.C., for analysis. Investigators are trying to determine if the four bolts that are supposed to hold the door plug in place were installed correctly.

In the meantime, the entire fleet of Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft remains grounded and subject to extra inspections. The Max 9 is primarily used by United Airlines and Alaska Airlines. Both carriers are having to cancel flights and adjust schedules to make up for the loss of aircraft while they continue to closely inspect their fleets.

According to Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci, a close inspection of the 737 Max 9—which makes up 20 percent of the company’s fleet—uncovered loose bolts in many of the airplanes.

“I am more than frustrated and disappointed,” Minicucci told NBC News. “I am angry. This happened to Alaska Airlines. It happened to our guests and happened to our people. And my demand on Boeing is, what are they going to do to improve their quality programs in-house?”

• READ MORE: NTSB Identifies Part That Failed on 737 Max 9

Boeing and Alaska are facing lawsuits from passengers who were on board Flight 1282 on January 5. As the aircraft with the gaping hole in its side descended into Portland, several thought they were going to die and sent farewell messages to their loved ones via text.

Among the concerns were that the airliner had three maintenance write-ups regarding the pressurization system, but the aircraft was permitted to remain in service as long as it did not fly over water.

What Is a Door Plug?

The door plug covers a space that can be turned into an emergency exit if the operator of the aircraft desires. The outline of the door plug can be seen from the exterior of the airplane. Inside, if the emergency exit option is not selected, the space looks like a bulkhead in the fuselage with windows.

The fuselages for the 737 are made by Spirit AeroSystems, which is also investigating its quality-control measures. In December, two former employees at the Wichita, Kansas, facility filed a class-action suit alleging that a lack of quality control was endangering the company.

FLYING will continue to follow this story and post updates as they are available.

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United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max 9 after a door plug blew out on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 earlier this month represents the proverbial “straw that broke the camel’s back.”

United has 79 of the Max 9s in its fleet, which is more than any other airline. During an interview on CNBC, Kirby expressed frustration at the progress of the 737 Max 10, which has been delayed several years due to FAA certification challenges and quality-control issues. Kirby noted that United is looking at options beyond using the Boeing 737 Max 10 since the airliner is still several years away from certification. In 2018 Kirby, then president at United, noted the company had placed orders for 100 Max 10s and expected to have them in the air by 2020. That obviously didn’t happen for a variety of reasons, the first of which were two deadly accidents.

In 2018, one 737 Max 8 went down in Indonesia, the other in Ethiopia, killing a total of 346 people. This resulted in a global grounding of the 737 Max while Boeing, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and FAA conducted investigations. 

Approximately two years later, the authorities released their final report, blaming the accidents on the 737 Max’s maneuvering characteristics augmentation system (MCAS).

A congressional investigation attributed both crashes to the “plane-maker’s unwillingness to share technical details.” Changes were made to the MCAS software, and new training protocols were developed. The aircraft returned to service in November 2020.

As reported by FLYING in October 2022, Boeing had to achieve regulatory approval for the Max 10 no later than December 2022 in order to meet its delivery deadlines. The deadline was not met, and industry officials note it is likely still years away.

In the meantime, Kirby said that the airline will consider alternatives to the Boeing product, as the issues are creating significant delays. Kirby told CNBC that United was “going to at least build a plan that doesn’t have the Max 10 in it” but did not specifically mention the alternative. The only other global manufacturer of large jets is Airbus.

FLYING reached out to Boeing for a response. Stan Deal, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, responded with a prepared statement: “We have let down our airline customers and are deeply sorry for the significant disruption to them, their employees, and their passengers. We are taking action on a comprehensive plan to bring these airplanes safely back to service and to improve our quality and delivery performance. We will follow the lead of the FAA and support our customers every step of the way.”

In a January 15 message to employees, Deal announced a list of immediate actions to address concerns over Boeing quality that included adding additional inspections throughout the build process at Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems, the Wichita, Kansas-based manufacturer that builds the fuselages for Boeing aircraft.

Additionally, Boeing has named retired Admiral Kirkland Donald to “lead an in-depth assessment of Boeing Commercial quality management system.” According to a statement from Boeing, “…Donald and a team of outside experts will conduct a thorough assessment of Boeing’s quality management system for commercial airplanes, including quality programs and practices in Boeing manufacturing facilities and its oversight of commercial supplier quality. His recommendations will be provided to [Boeing CEO Dave] Calhoun and to the Aerospace Safety Committee of Boeing’s board of directors.”

Donald spent 37 years in the U.S. Navy as a nuclear submarine officer. His last Navy assignment was as director of the service’s nuclear propulsion program, helping to ensure the safe and effective operation of all nuclear-powered warships and supporting infrastructure.

“The [Navy] program is recognized worldwide for excellence in reactor safety and reliability,” the statement said.

Donald currently serves as chairman of the board for Huntington Ingalls Industries, the largest military shipbuilding company in the United States.

The post United Airlines Says It’s Disappointed in Boeing appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

On January 22, the FAA issued a Safety Alert for Operators (SAFO) recommending that operators of the Boeing 737-900ER conduct a visual inspection of the mid-exit door plugs to ensure they are properly secured.

According to the FAA, “the Boeing 737-900ER is not part of the newer Max [9] fleet but has the same door plug design.” 

Per the SAFO, “operators are encouraged to conduct a visual inspection to ensure the door plug is restrained from any movements through the two upper guide track bolts and two lower arrestor bolts.”

The SAFO noted the Boeing 737-900ER has an identical door plug design to the 737 Max 9.

“As part of their Safety Management Systems, some operators have conducted additional inspections on the 737-900ER mid-exit door plugs and have noted findings with bolts during the maintenance inspections,” the SAFO said.

The FAA has asked operators who find any issues with the door plug to notify their certificate management office.

FLYING reached out to Boeing for comment. The aerospace giant replied, “We fully support the FAA and our customers in this action.” 

About the 737-900ER

The 737-900ER is a derivative of the 737 design, with ER standing for “Extended Range.” The ER deliveries took place from 2007 to 2019. Of the 500 delivered, approximately 380 have the door plug.

The 900ER is used by Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines. As all the aircraft are more than four years old, they have been through several “deep maintenance cycles,” where the door plugs are inspected.

According to the National Aviation Academy, these cycles are made up of regular inspections, maintenance, and overhaul of the aircraft using A, B, C, and D checks, with C and D checks being the most involved and time consuming. The intervals for the inspections and maintenance is driven by aircraft use and can be as little as a few weeks apart to several months.

The C check, for example, requires an aviation maintenance technician to perform a deep inspection of a majority of the aircraft’s parts. This keeps the aircraft on the ground for several weeks at a maintenance facility.

The D check is classified as a “heavy maintenance visit” and happens every six to 10 years, depending on the aircraft. This is the most comprehensive of the inspections and repairs, and often involves taking apart the aircraft to inspect for corrosion, damages, and worn-out parts. The D check takes four to six weeks.

Recap: Details of the Accident

On January 5, Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 was en route from Portland International Airport (KPDX) in Oregon to Ontario, California, with 177 on board. Approximately 13 minutes into the flight, the door plug departed the aircraft, resulting in a gaping hole in the fuselage as the jet passed through 16,000 feet. The in-flight failure of the door plug resulted in a violent loss of cabin pressure, and loose objects such as cellphones were sucked out the hole.

The seats directly adjacent to the door plug were empty at the time of the incident, although a teenage boy sitting close to the hole had his shirt pulled off by the force of the decompression.

The flight crew declared an emergency and initiated a descent. Within hours Alaska Airlines grounded all of its 737 Max 9 aircraft. The next day the FAA issued an emergency airworthiness directive grounding all the remaining 737 Max 9s. The aircraft are primarily used by Alaska and United. The FAA has also issued a Continued Airworthiness Notification to the International Community (CANIC) providing notice of pending significant safety action.

The door plug is located in row 26 of the 737 Max 9. From the inside of the cabin, the door plug looks like any other bulkhead—on the outside, the outline of the door can be seen. The structure is designed as an extra emergency door that can be fully installed if the customer requests.

The door plug was recovered from a backyard in Oregon. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is still investigating the cause of its failure.

There were no deaths from the event, but several passengers reported injuries. Within hours of the flight, they received emails from Alaska Airlines offering $1,500 for their inconvenience. 

During the preliminary investigation, the NTSB stated the aircraft had been delivered to the airline in October 2023. A few weeks prior to the event, the flight crew had written up three warning lights indicating an issue with the aircraft’s automatic pressurization system. As the pressurization is a triple redundant system, with two computers as well as one manual means of activation, the aircraft was allowed to remain in service. However, it was limited to flight over land.

In the weeks that followed the January 5 event, several of the passengers joined in lawsuits against Boeing and Alaska Airlines, asking in part why the aircraft remained in use. But the NTSB has not attributed the event to the pressurization system.

This is an ongoing story that FLYING will update as we learn more information.

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