Alaska Airlines' 737 may have left missing bolts from Boeing factory, NTSB says

Four bolts used to secure the panel that ultimately blew off an Alaska Airlines plane during a flight last month were removed — and do not appear to have been replaced — at Boeing's plant in Renton, Washington, according to a preliminary report that was released by the National on Tuesday. Dutch Transportation Safety Board.

The panel, known as a door plug, was opened to repair damaged rivets on the aircraft's body, known as the fuselage. The report did not say who removed the bolts holding the door plug in place. But the safety board said it appeared not all the bolts were replaced after the door was reinstalled on the plane after the rivets were repaired.

As evidence, the NTSB provided a photo of the door plug after it had been reinstalled, but before the interior of the aircraft had been repaired. In the picture, three of the four bolts appear to be missing. The location of the fourth bolt is covered with insulation.

According to the report, the image was included in “a text message between Boeing team members on September 19, 2023.” Boeing employees “discussed interior restoration after rivet rework was completed during the second shift that day,” the report said.

The safety council said there was no evidence the plug was reopened after it left Boeing's factory. The aircraft was delivered to Alaska Airlines in late October.

The report intensifies the investigation into Boeing, which has been working for weeks to contain the fallout from the incident, and raises new questions about whether the company did enough to improve safety after two fatal 737 Max crashes 8 planes in 2018 and 2019. It also answers critical questions about why the door plug came loose shortly after Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 took off from Portland International Airport in Oregon.

Almost immediately, the Alaska Airlines incident prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to ground about 737 Max 9 jets, throwing flight schedules into disarray for days at Alaska and United Airlines, the two U.S. airlines that fly the model .

The FAA has also indefinitely restricted Boeing's ambitious plans to increase production of all Max jets, leaving the company in limbo. The company had planned to produce 42 jets per month this year and 50 next year, but will instead remain steady at 38, possibly for many more months. Boeing executives last week declined to provide a financial forecast for the year, citing the incident and the need to focus on safety.

Furious airline executives have taken the rare step of publicly criticizing Boeing and expressing doubt that the company will be able to deliver the planes they order on time.

The incident and its fallout have put Boeing, one of the world's two largest aircraft manufacturers, in a familiar position: trying to navigate a crisis with unknown financial and reputational costs. Just five years ago, after the two fatal Max 8 crashes that killed nearly 350 people, the company spent billions of dollars to make its planes safer and restore its reputation.

Now back on its heels, the company is rushing to reassure customers, regulators and members of Congress that it is fully focused on improving quality control. Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun visited Spirit AeroSystems, a supplier in Wichita, Kansas, that makes the bodies for 737 Max aircraft. Boeing also held an event where employees at the Renton plant, where Max planes are built, took a day off to attend sessions on quality. And it has promised to reward employees “for speaking up to slow things down when necessary.”

But as it tries to resolve its problems, Boeing said Sunday that a supplier had found a new problem last week with the fuselage of dozens of unfinished 737 Max planes. The supplier noted that “two holes may not have been drilled exactly to our requirements.”

Although he did not name the supplier, a Spirit spokesperson said a member of the team had identified an issue last week that did not meet technical standards. Boeing said the problem would force Boeing to rework about 50 planes, delaying their deliveries.

On a call with analysts Tuesday, Spirit AeroSystems CEO Patrick Shanahan said it is increasing the number of inspections conducted along with those conducted by Boeing.

Also on Tuesday, Mike Whitaker, the FAA's top official, told a House of Representatives panel that the agency would increase its presence on the ground to monitor Boeing's aircraft production.

“Going forward, we will have more people on the ground closely watching and monitoring manufacturing and manufacturing operations,” Mr. Whitaker told the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's Aviation Subcommittee.

In addition to limiting Boeing's production increase, the agency has opened an investigation into the plane maker's compliance with safety standards. An audit into the company's production of the Max also began, which Mr Whitaker said would take six weeks.

He said the agency had deployed about 20 inspectors to Boeing and another half-dozen to Spirit.

Santul Nerkar reporting contributed.