The chairwoman of the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Ms. Jennifer Homendy, said that the aircraft manufacturer Boeing could not provide key information related to what was done on the Alaska Airlines plane before the door failure in January.
The lack of these records will complicate the NTSB's investigation, Homendy said.
In a letter to the leaders of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, Homendy said that the door body on the Alaska Airlines Boeing jet was removed for repair in September 2023 due to a broken latch. The repair was performed at Boeing’s Renton facility in Washington, before being returned to Alaska Airlines. However, Homendy noted that the investigation team still does not know who opened, reinstalled and closed the door body on the plane that had the problem. She said Boeing has informed the NTSB that they cannot find records of the work.
Ms. Homendy's letter stated that although investigators requested the security camera footage , Boeing reported that the footage had been overwritten. Meanwhile, Boeing affirmed that the corporation was "transparent and proactive" in assisting authorities in investigating the incident; emphasizing that the security camera footage was retained for 30 days as required by regulations.
According to Homendy’s letter, the NTSB first requested relevant documents on Jan. 9. Boeing then sent the names of people who could provide details on Feb. 2. Boeing also failed to provide the full names of employees who could identify who handled the bolt. On March 6, the NTSB criticized Boeing for not providing information quickly enough for the investigation.
On January 5, a Boeing 737 MAX 9 operated by Alaska Airlines was forced to make an emergency landing after the plane's emergency exit door dislodged. Although no one was seriously injured, investigators said the incident could have had catastrophic consequences. Investigators said the incident was caused by four missing bolts in key locations. The incident on the Alaska Airlines flight has become the biggest crisis for Boeing in recent times.
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