By Minyvonne Burke, Jay Blackman and Antonio Planas -
NBC News
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Tuesday released its preliminary findings on an Alaska Airlines flight that was forced to make an emergency landing when a door panel fell off mid-flight last month.
A photo of the Boeing 737 at a factory in Renton, Washington, showed that the malfunctioning door panel did not have the screws installed in the door plug.
“Photographic documentation obtained from Boeing shows evidence that the left MED plug was closed without retaining hardware (bolts) in all three visible locations,” the report said, using an acronym to refer to the center exit door.
However, it was unclear what stage of the plane's manufacturing the aircraft was in when the photo was taken.
The defective part was manufactured by Spirit AeroSystems Malaysia on March 24, 2023 and received at Spirit AeroSystems Wichita on May 10 of the same year, the report stated.
The plug was then installed and mounted on Spirit AeroSystems fuselage line 8789 before being shipped to Boeing on August 20.
The fuselage arrived at the Boeing facility in Renton on the 31st of that same month, the document added.
In a statement Tuesday, Boeing said it appreciates the work of the NTSB and will review the findings “promptly” while continuing to cooperate with the NTSB and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigations.
“Whatever the final conclusions are reached, Boeing is responsible for what happened,” the company's president and CEO, Dave Calhoun, commented in the statement.
“An event like this should not happen on a plane leaving our factory.
We simply must do better for our customers and their passengers.
We are implementing a comprehensive plan to strengthen the quality and trust of our stakeholders.
It will take meaningful, demonstrated action and transparency at all times, and that is where we are squarely focused.”
An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 plane with a door plug similar to the one that came off on a flight on Jan. 5 was awaiting inspection at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Jan. 10.Lindsey Wasson/AP
The flight, carrying 177 people, left Portland, Oregon, on January 5, bound for Ontario International Airport, in the Californian county of San Bernardino, when the door plug burst, leaving a huge hole in a side of the plane.
Many passengers reported hearing a “loud bang” shortly after takeoff.
The photo of one of them showed a panel missing from the side of the fuselage.
The FAA suspended the flight of the 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 that operated in the United States as part of the NTSB investigation.
The agency also indicated it was increasing its oversight of Boeing production and manufacturing.
Appearing Tuesday before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee, FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker offered more details about the increased scrutiny underway at Boeing.
“We propose expanding the focus of oversight to include both audits and inspections, which is why we are moving inspectors to the facilities,” Whitaker said.
“We know what we have to do next, which is to have more presence on the ground to verify what is happening.”
Whitaker added that the Jan. 5 incident has led the FAA to determine if there is a problem with production at Boeing.