Boeing mis-installed fuselage panel that blew off Alaska MAX 9 jet, industry source says

[tmkedmw]

Boeing, not Spirit, mis-installed piece that blew off Alaska MAX 9 jet, industry source says​

Jan. 24, 2024 at 6:00 am Updated Jan. 24, 2024 at 6:04 am

1 of 3 | The door plug on an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 parked outside... (Ellen M. Banner / The Seattle Times)More

By
Dominic Gates
Seattle Times aerospace reporter

The fuselage panel that blew off an Alaska Airlines jet earlier this month was removed for repair then reinstalled improperly by Boeing mechanics on the Renton final assembly line, a person familiar with the details of the work told The Seattle Times.

If verified by the National Transportation Safety Board investigation, this would leave Boeing primarily at fault for the accident, rather than its supplier Spirit AeroSystems, which originally installed the panel into the 737 MAX 9 fuselage in Wichita, Kan.

That panel, a door plug used to seal a hole in the fuselage sometimes used to accommodate an emergency exit, blew out of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 as it climbed out of Portland on Jan. 5. The hair-raising incident drew fresh and sharp criticism of Boeing’s quality control systems and safety culture, which has been under the microscope since two fatal 737 MAX crashes five years ago.

Last week, a different person — an anonymous whistleblower who appears to have access to Boeing’s manufacturing records of the work done assembling the specific Alaska Airlines jet that suffered the blowout — on an aviation website separately provided many additional details about how the door plug came to be removed and then mis-installed.

“The reason the door blew off is stated in black and white in Boeing’s own records,” the whistleblower wrote. “It is also very, very stupid and speaks volumes about the quality culture at certain portions of the business.”

The self-described Boeing insider said company records show four bolts that prevent the door plug from sliding up off the door frame stop pads that take the pressurization loads in flight, “were not installed when Boeing delivered the airplane.” the whistleblower stated. “Our own records reflect this.”

NTSB investigators already publicly raised the possibility that the bolts had not been installed.

UPDATE​

FAA blocks Boeing production push but clears way for MAX 9s to fly again
The account goes on to describe shocking lapses in Boeing’s quality control process in Renton.

The work of the mechanics on the door plug should have been formally inspected and signed off by a Boeing quality inspector.

It wasn’t, the whistleblower wrote, because of a process failure and the use of two separate systems to record what work was accomplished.

Boeing’s 737 production system is described as “a rambling, shambling, disaster waiting to happen.”

If that account of what happened is indeed fully documented in Boeing’s system it should be readily verified by the investigation.

The Seattle Times offered Boeing the opportunity to dispute the details in this story. Citing the ongoing investigation, Boeing declined to comment. Likewise, so did Spirit, the FAA, the Machinists union and the NTSB.

A convincing account​

Passengers on Flight 1282 were traumatized when a door-sized section of the 737 MAX 9 fuselage exploded out 16,000 feet over Portland.

https://www.seattletimes.com/busine...stalled-piece-that-blew-off-alaska-max-9-jet/

 

[coyote]

Liao .... Boeing is in lots of troubles...

 

[tatsit]

i wonder if other 737 variants are affected

 

[Lasogette]

Wah jialat sia

 

[huihong]

blow jiu blow, mybfd

 

[iammole]

Proudly made in ______

 

[GBC]

Boeing is too big to fail, the US govt will bail it out by giving it more defence contracts ...

 

[Neon92]

And boeing still dare to ask faa to lower the safety guideline

 

[Sniffy_Fido]

Boeing not safe anymore.

 

[Medicated Oil]

Kudo to the whistleblower for sharing the records.
Or else the authority will never know the truth.
Unfortunately, it meant that there will possibly be other parts that may be installed wrongly too.

 

[Flanky]

Actually means only doors that boeing touched after installation is unsafe.
So means most of the planes are safe?

How we know which plane cannot take?

 

[1.koln]

It's weird they don't know how to install their own doors

 

[buttbERry]

this company jialat sia

 

[ahnyaahnya]

Proudly made in ______

The problem was not where it was made.

 

[Laneige]

I was watching tw news n not sure reliable or mot
They mentioned this co already been outsourcing parts etc to all ard the world liked decentralized to get costs down etc

aeroplanes such impt job can do until liked this?
There r things u can n cannot cut costs

See our lifts will know

Less breakdown etc because the existing (previous) systems in place is working b well n thus low incidents etc

Then don’t know which smart one see liao think can delegate jobs down right? End up never show date etc n many prob?
Have they fixed that? Or same I don’t know but aeroplne so exp n pls don’t be a **** to cut cost ma
So many lives at stakes

n somemore they said usa govt will use this as political chips unlike airbus that is really commercial based

So our sq is what kind of planes Ah? Hopefully is buy best ones out there

and the max that crashed two x consecutively, think they said no issues etc right until the software issues r found

u know in this new era u don’t need a knife to kill ppl
This kind of jobs also can indirectly have blood in the hands n it’s really v serious thing

 

[stanlawj]

i wonder if other 737 variants are affected

yes

 

[dappercivility]

Nowadays companies love to sub contract out jobs to cut costs. Such sub-contracts involving safety and human lives need to be scrutineered and approved by the relevant authorities. But seems like cut cost is priority only

 

[wwenze]

So confirmed is Boeing own fault