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Posted on 02/06/2024 12:15:05 PM PST by FarCenter
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday said evidence shows four bolts that hold the door plug in place on the Boeing 737 Max 9 were missing at the time of last month’s blowout on Alaska Airlines flight 1282.
The bombshell new finding from federal investigators comes one month and a day after the January 5 incident that triggered a 19-day emergency grounding of all Max 9s, and re-ignited scrutiny of Boeing following the fatal Max 8 crashes of 2018 and 2019.
...
In their 19-page preliminary report released Tuesday, NTSB investigators included observations from a laboratory disassembly of Alaska 1282’s door plug, which fell 16,000 feet into an Oregon backyard. It said the lack of damage to the plug where the bolts were supposed to attach it to the fuselage of the plane pointed to the conclusion that the bolts were missing at the time of the flight.
“Overall, the observed damage patterns and absence of contact damage or deformation around holes associated with the vertical movement arrestor bolts and upper guide track bolts in the upper guide fittings, hinge fittings, and recovered aft lower hinge guide fitting indicate that the four bolts that prevent upward movement of the MED plug were missing before the MED [mid exit door] plug moved upward off the stop pads,” the report said referring to the mid exit door.
The report included a photo taken in September, more than a month before the plane was delivered to Alaska Air, that show the bolts missing during work on the aircraft, taken from a text message between two Boeing employees obtained by NTSB investigators. It means that the plane flew for a couple of months before the January 5 blowout with the bolts missing.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
dei hires to work on planes is not in the best interest of the flying public. no one want to hear “oops” from your pilot or co-pilot but it’s ok for the mechanic to say “oops”.
Look for the union label! Then get far away.
The 737 flew for several months without bolts in the door.
Boeing designs some pretty awesome airplanes.
Too bad it seems they have lost some of the skills need to screw them together.
I’m starting to think sabotage.
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Did the dancing gals install that door?
Four bolts used to secure the panel that ultimately blew off an Alaska Airlines plane during a flight last month were removed — and appear not to have been replaced — at Boeing’s factory in Renton, Wash., according to a preliminary report released Tuesday by the National Transportation Safety Board.
The panel, known as a door plug, was opened to repair damaged rivets on the plane’s body, known as the fuselage. The report did not say who removed the bolts keeping the door plug in place. But the safety board said it appeared that not all the bolts were put back once the door was reinstalled on the plane after the rivets had been repaired.
As evidence, the N.T.S.B. provided a photograph of the door plug after it was reinstalled but before the plane’s interior was restored. In the image, three of the four bolts appear to be missing. The location of the fourth bolt is covered with insulation.
The report said the image had been attached to “a text message between Boeing team members on September 19, 2023.” The Boeing employees “were discussing interior restoration after the rivet rework was completed during second shift operations that day,” the report said.
The safety board said there was no evidence that the plug was opened again after it left Boeing’s factory. The plane was delivered to Alaska Airlines at the end of October.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/06/business/ntsb-boeing-alaska-airlines-report.html
So the problem was at the Boeing factory, and it was not at Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, KS.
Could be. I wonder if psych and drug tests are done on “key personnel” in the industry.
I doubt it if union.
Then again, the CEO of United is a drag Queen…
Has anyone actually identified a way that DEI policies have impacted Boeing’s manufacturing process?
NO one at Alaska noticed? For months?
Are door bolts really that important?
It was obvious from the beginning that there was NO structural damage to the fuselage:
"Hey, Jose. Shouldn't you put the bolts in before we put the interior panels in place?"
"Nah, that's La'keisha's job. She's getting her nails and extensions done. The man wants this done now. Just slap those panels in place. Nobody will even know we didn't install the bolts."
It sounds like these bolts are within the body of the aircraft and not visible to the crew or even maintenance. It sounds like you need to remove some interior parts to even see where these bolts are.
Where do they build thes planes?
DIE at work...yay! Celebrate perversion!
Stoned workers?
These bolts are installed on doors not set up to be opened. They replace the opening hardware.
Unless the airplane was going through a “D” check (or whatever it is called these days) there is no need to access that area as it is covered by trim panels, insulation, and such.
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