UPDATE: March 7, 2024: The National Transportation Safety Board noted that on Wednesday as of 2pm EST, it had received the list of 25 names previously requested from Boeing, the agency confirmed to Manufacturing Dive on Wednesday evening.
The National Transportation Safety Board condemned Boeing for failing to cooperate with the federal agency's investigation of the Jan. 5 Alaska Airlines door blowout incident during a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation hearing Wednesday.
Boeing has yet to provide the NTSB with the names of the workers responsible for the installation and work related to the door plug. The agency previously requested the names of the 25 workers involved, the plant shift during which the door plug was worked on, and other written records related to the work.
NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy called it "absurd" that the agency still had not received this information two months later.
Investigators have also been unable to interview the manager of the team responsible for the door plug work, who they have been told is on medical leave, according to Homendy. The lack of critical information raises concerns about Boeing’s quality assurance, quality management and safety management systems, the chair added.
“Boeing has not provided us with the documents and information that we have requested numerous times over the past few months, specifically with respect to opening, closing and removal of the door and the team that does that work at the Renton [Washington] facility,” Homendy said during the hearing. “It’s not for the lack of trying.”
While it’s not unusual for the NTSB not to receive requested information immediately, two months after a door plug blew out on an Alaska Airlines 737-9 Max plane, Homendy said the agency knows a team worked on the doors at Boeing’s Renton facility.
The NTSB released its initial investigation report last month, which found that four key bolts were missing from the Alaska Airlines mid-exit door plug, components that should have kept the panel in place.
“We have been informed that they have a procedure to maintain documents on when work is performed and including when door plugs are open, closed or removed,” Homendy said. “We have not been able to verify that.”
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz requested that Homendy inform the committee in writing in a week whether Boeing had cooperated and provided the list of 25 names.
On Wednesday, Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell sent a letter to Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun requesting the company provide the NTSB with documentation related to the door plug removal and reinstallation and the names of the 25 people who performed this work within the next 48 hours.
Boeing has now provided the "full list of individuals on the 737 door team," in response to a "recent request," the company said in a statement to Manufacturing Dive Wednesday afternoon.
"Early in the investigation, we provided the NTSB with names of Boeing employees, including door specialists, who we believed would have relevant information," Boeing said in its statement. "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.”
NTSB investigators are at the Renton facility this week conducting interviews with Boeing personnel, she added. Based on pictures and emails, the agency thinks the door plug work happened in mid-September.
As for Boeing’s supplier, Spirit AeroSystems, Homendy added that the NTSB learned that three people who worked on the door plug were not Spirit employees but contractors from three different companies in Washington – Aerotek, Strom Aviation and Launch.
“As a party to the NTSB investigation, we are unable to comment on any matters associated with the investigation,” Joe Buccino, a Spirit AeroSystems representative, said in a statement to Manufacturing Dive. “We are coordinating with the NTSB to address the chair’s comments regarding this matter.”
Sen. Cantwell asked Homendy during the hearing if there was a way employees could speak directly to the Federal Aviation Administration and the NTSB in the investigation. Last week, an independent expert panel review found some Boeing workers could face retaliation if they spoke up about safety concerns.
Homendy said she received an anonymous whistleblower report related to the investigation along with other information and assured senators that the investigation team now had those details. The chair also added that the agency has more authority to go after additional information as needed.
“We certainly have subpoena authority, and we're not afraid to use it if we need to. We hope it doesn't come to that,” Homendy said.
