Federal safety hearing over 737 Max blowout puts Boeing, Spirit AeroSystems factories in spotlight

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Source: CNBC

AEROSPACE & DEFENSE
Federal safety hearing over 737 Max blowout puts Boeing, Spirit AeroSystems factories in spotlight

PUBLISHED TUE, AUG 6 2024 5:20 PM EDT
Leslie Josephs
@LESLIEJOSEPHS

KEY POINTS
• Boeing and its fuselage supplier Spirit AeroSystems are facing a two-day safety hearing that started Tuesday.
• The NTSB released more than 3,000 pages of documents, including transcripts of interviews with Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems employees, as well as from pilots, flight attendants and executives.
• A Boeing safety executive said the company is working on a design change to avoid a repeat of the midair blowout.

A Boeing safety executive told a federal safety hearing on Tuesday that the company is working on design changes to avoid a repeat of the near catastrophic blowout of a door plug from a practically new 737 Max 9 at the start of the year.

The National Transportation Safety Board — the body in charge of aviation accident investigations in the U.S. — released more than 3,000 pages of documents ahead its full two-day hearing about Flight 1282, including interviews with employees at Boeing and its beleaguered fuselage maker Spirit AeroSystems, some of which pointed to rework.

"I just want a word of caution here, this is not a PR campaign for Boeing," NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said. "This is an investigation on what happened on Jan. 5. Understand?"

Bolts that were meant to hold the door in place weren't attached, according to preliminary investigation results. While there were no serious injuries, the accident put the spotlight back on Boeing's safety procedures and a series of manufacturing flaws that required changes at the company's factories, including what led up to the door plug getting removed, but not secured last year.

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Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2024/08/06/federal-hearing-737-max-9-blowout-boeing-spirit-aerosystems.html