The US transport agency in transport has also pointed out the “ineffectiveness” of the supervision of the American regulator (FAA).
A year and a half after the flight loss of an Alaska Airlines aircraft, Boeing and the American regulator are pointed out by the investigation. Failures of the American manufacturer are the «cause probable» of the incident in January 2024, accumulated to a “Supervision lack” From the aircraft manufacturer by the FAA regulator, concluded the American Transport Safety Agency (NTSB). The Board of Directors of the NTSB examined this Tuesday, June 25, at a public hearing of almost six hours on Tuesday, June 25, the results of the survey carried out by its experts and approved the final report project, which must be published soon.
On January 5, 2024, during the ascent phase of a Boeing 737 Max 9 operating the flight 1282 of Alaska Airlines between Portland (Oregon) and Ontario (California), a cork door – seamless outing a redundant emergency exit – detached, leaving a gaping hole in the fuselage and making some light injuries. In a preliminary report published a month later, the NTSB revealed that four bolts planned to fix this piece in the fuselage lacked.
Production quality problems
The survey established – Boeing confirmed it – that they had been withdrawn during the final assembly of the fuselage to its backward factory (northwest) by non -authorized staff, an operation which in addition had not been documented and which therefore escaped the checks. This incident, on an airplane delivered in October, revealed to the general public the quality problems of the production of the aeronautical manufacturer and triggered a deep crisis.
The agency “Determines that the probable cause of this accident was the flight separation of the left (Bouchon door) because of Boeing’s failure to provide adequate training and advice”writes the NTSB, adding that the aircraft manufacturer had also not set up “The supervision necessary to ensure that their staff consistently and correctly respects the procedures for removing spare parts”.
The “ineffectiveness” of the faa pointed out
Moreover, “The ineffectiveness of the FAA to monitor compliance with compliance controls and its activities in terms of audits (…) contributed to the accident”adds the survey organization. According to the NTSB, this failing supervision has not “Correctly identified, or made sure, that Boeing was concerned with solving the recurring and systemic problems of non-compliance” Regarding the withdrawal of parts. To remedy the various problems identified by the investigators, the agency issued a number of recommendations for Boeing, for the FAA, as well as for several air organizations.
“We, at Boeing, regret this accident and continue to work on strengthening safety and quality through our operationsreacted the manufacturer. We will review the final report and the recommendations while continuing to implement improvements. ”
For its part, the FAA affirmed “Take seriously the recommendations of the NTSB and will carefully examine those issued today”. She assured having “Basically modified” its supervision of Boeing from the incident and has “Continue this tenacious supervision”claiming to meet representatives of the aircraft manufacturer every week “To examine his progress and any difficulties”.
During the session, it appeared in particular that Boeing had designed an additional attachment system for its traffic jams and visual safeguards. New planes should be equipped from 2026 and those already in operation should be reusing, said an investigator.
The NTSB has also reiterated its recommendation to equip the aircraft with the flight recorders lasting 25 hours, to prevent data from being crushed by new elements – as was the case for Alaska flight – because current records are much shorter.
