New York:
Four of the bolts securing the panel were missing from a Boeing 737 MAX 9 Alaska Airlines plane that blew off mid-flight last month, according to a preliminary investigation released Tuesday.
The National Transportation Safety Board's initial report on the Jan. 5 incident said the lack of damage or deformation around the holes “indicates that the four bolts that prevent upward movement of the (door) plug were missing before the plug of the stop blocks moved upwards.”
The agency has obtained written documents and photographs showing that Boeing employees removed four bolts from these locations during an inspection at the Renton plant in Washington state prior to the plane's delivery last October.
That operation was carried out to replace five damaged rivets in the aircraft's cabin. Other photos taken after the rivets were replaced show that at least three of the bolts had not been reinstalled.
This door plug was used to block an exit that was not intended to be used, as the model already has sufficient emergency exits in this configuration.
On January 5, the panel took off mid-flight after the Alaska Airlines MAX 9 took off from Portland, Oregon en route to Ontario, California. The incident caused only minor injuries.
Alaska Airlines reported finding “loose equipment” after its own preliminary inspections.
United Airlines, which owns the country's largest fleet of 737 MAX 9s with 79 aircraft, said it discovered “bolts that required additional tightening” during inspections.
In recent months, Boeing planes have experienced a series of problems and as a result the US-based company has had to delay its deliveries.
At a congressional hearing, the new chief of the Federal Aviation Administration, Michael Whitaker, said it was necessary to step up oversight of Boeing after the Alaska Airlines incident.
“There have been problems in the past (with Boeing) and they don't seem to be being resolved,” he told a hearing of the House of Representatives subcommittee on aviation.
“So we feel like we need a higher level of oversight to really move forward after that,” he added.
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