Systemic failures led to a door plug flying off Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max, NTSB says

The heroic actions by the crew of Alaska Airlines flight 1282 ensured everyone survived last year when a door plug panel flew off the plane shortly after takeoff, leaving a gaping hole that sucked objects out of the cabin, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said Tuesday.But Homendy said “the crew shouldn’t have had to be heroes, because this accident never should have happened.” The board found that lapses in Boeing’s manufacturing and safety oversight, combined with ineffective inspections and audits by the Federal Aviation Administration, led to the terrifying malfunction.The NTSB investigation over the past 17 months found that four bolts securing what is known as the door plug panel were removed and never replaced during a repair as the Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft was being assembled.The blowout occurred minutes after the flight took off from Portland, Oregon, and created a roaring air vacuum.Seven passengers and one flight attendant sustained minor injuries, but none of the 177 aboard were killed.

Pilots landed the plane safely back at the airport.Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems — the company that made and installed the door plug — are redesigning them with another backup system to keep the panels in place even if the bolts are missing, but that improvement isn’t likely to be certified by the FAA until 2026 at the soonest.The NTSB urged the companies and the regulator to make sure every 737 Max is retrofitted with those new panels.Both Boeing and the FAA have improved training and processes since the incident, according to the NTSB, but board officials said the company and agency need to better identify manufacturing risks and address them to make sure such flaws never sneak through again.Homendy did single out Boeing’s new CEO, Kelly Ortberg, for improving safety since he took over last summer, though she said more needs to be done.The NTSB recommended that Boeing continue improving its training and safety standards and...