It’s been nearly three weeks since federal regulators took 171 Boeing aircraft out of service after part of the fuselage of an Alaska Airlines jet blew out at 16,000 feet after departing the Portland International Airport.
Boeing has been accused of concentrating too much on getting military orders leaving safety for passenger production secondary.
An Boeing whistleblower says that mistakes inside the aerospace giant’s plant in Renton, Wash. were likely to blame for the incident. The Boeing employee alleges that four key bolts that are supposed to hold the door in place were never reinstalled after maintenance work before the jet left the factory.
FAA Statement says Never Again!
The Jan. 5 Boeing 737-9 MAX incident must never happen again. Accordingly, the Nchịkwa Federal Aviation (FAA) is announcing additional actions to ensure every aircraft is safe.
The FAA today informed Boeing it will not grant any production expansion of the MAX, including the 737-9 MAX.
This action comes on top of the FAA’s investigation and ramped-up oversight of Boeing and its suppliers. The FAA today also approved a thorough inspection and maintenance process that must be performed on each of the grounded 171 Boeing 737-9 MAX aircraft. Upon successful completion, the aircraft will be eligible to return to service.
“We grounded the Boeing 737-9 MAX within hours of the incident over Portland and made clear this aircraft would not go back into service until it was safe,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said. “The exhaustive, enhanced review our team completed after several weeks of information gathering gives me and the FAA confidence to proceed to the inspection and maintenance phase.
Agbanyeghị, ka m doo anya: Nke a agaghị alaghachi azụ ahịa dịka ọ na-emebu maka Boeing. Anyị agaghị anabata arịrịọ ọ bụla sitere na Boeing maka mgbasawanye na mmepụta ma ọ bụ kwado ahịrị mmepụta ọzọ maka 737 MAX ruo mgbe anyị nwere afọ ojuju na edozila nsogbu njikwa mma ekpughere n'oge usoro a. "
The FAA approved this detailed set of inspection and maintenance instructions after a thorough review of data from 40 inspections of grounded planes. The FAA also convened a Corrective Action Review Board (CARB). The CARB, made up of safety experts, scrutinized and approved the inspection and maintenance process.
Following the completion of the enhanced maintenance and inspection process on each aircraft, the door plugs on the 737-9 MAX will comply with the original design which is safe to operate. This aircraft will not operate until the process is complete and compliance with the original design is confirmed.
The enhanced maintenance process will require:
- An inspection of specific bolts, guide tracks, and fittings
- Detailed visual inspections of left and right mid-cabin exit door plugs and dozens of associated components
- Retorquing fasteners
- Correcting any damage or abnormal conditions
FAA holds Boeing Accountable
After grounding the Boeing 737 9 MAX aircraft in early January, the FAA has laid out a series of actions to increase oversight of Boeing’s production lines.
“The quality assurance issues we have seen are unacceptable,” said Whitaker. “That is why we will have more boots on the ground closely scrutinizing and monitoring production and manufacturing activities.”
Increased oversight activities include:
- Capping expanded production of new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft to ensure accountability and full compliance with required quality control procedures.
- Launching an investigation scrutinizing Boeing’s compliance with manufacturing requirements. The FAA will use the full extent of its enforcement authority to ensure the company is held accountable for any non-compliance.
- Aggressively expanding oversight of new aircraft with increased floor presence at all Boeing facilities.
- Closely monitoring data to identify risk
- Launching an analysis of potential safety-focused reforms around quality control and delegation.
The FAA will continue to support the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) investigation into Alaska Airlines Flight 1282. The NTSB is in charge of the investigation and will provide any updates.
Boeing Safety Review
In early 2023, the FAA convened 24 experts to review Boeing’s safety management processes and how they affect Boeing’s safety culture. The FAA expects the report within weeks. The results of the Boeing Safety Culture Review report will also inform the agency regarding future action. The review panel included representatives from NASA, the FAA, labor unions, independent engineering experts, air carriers, manufacturers with delegated authority, legal experts and others. The panel has been reviewing thousands of documents, interviewed more than 250 Boeing employees, managers, and executives, Boeing supplier employees, and FAA employees, and visited several Boeing sites as well as Spirit AeroSystems’ facility in Wichita.
Boeing has no comment on the whistleblower
Boeing refrained from providing comments regarding the whistleblower allegations due to the ongoing investigation conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board. Previously, NTSB investigators had raised concerns about the potential improper installation of bolts on the door plug panel.
Boeing pledged to work with regulators and airlines to get the grounded planes back in the air.
“We will continue to cooperate fully and transparently with the FAA and follow their direction as we take action to strengthen safety and quality at Boeing,” said a statement from Boeing spokesperson Jessica Kowal. “We will also work closely with our airline customers as they complete the required inspection procedures to safely return their 737-9 airplanes to service.”
Regulators and Boeing have yet to provide the final inspection guidance, causing United and Alaska Airlines to cancel numerous flights. The CEOs of both companies expressed strong criticism of Boeing in separate interviews conducted on Tuesday.
Alaska Airlines will put B737 back into Service on Friday
United Airlines will put B737 back into Service on Sunday
Toby Enqvist, the chief operating officer of United, informed the employees via a letter on Wednesday that the company will initiate the examination of its 79 inactive aircraft.
“We are preparing aircraft to return to scheduled service beginning on Sunday,” Enqvist said. “We will only return each MAX 9 aircraft to service once this thorough inspection process is complete.”
IHE Ị GA-Ewepụ na edemede a:
- Following the completion of the enhanced maintenance and inspection process on each aircraft, the door plugs on the 737-9 MAX will comply with the original design which is safe to operate.
- We will not agree to any request from Boeing for an expansion in production or approve additional production lines for the 737 MAX until we are satisfied that the quality control issues uncovered during this process are resolved.
- After grounding the Boeing 737 9 MAX aircraft in early January, the FAA has laid out a series of actions to increase oversight of Boeing's production lines.
