Boeing has so far not shared all the information and documents requested by the NTSB, the National Transportation Safety Board, regarding the investigation into the Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 that lost a door plug in flight on January 5.
According to the body’s president, Jennifer Hommendy, who participated in a US Senate hearing on Wednesday, the manufacturer did not reveal the names of 25 people who worked on assembling the door plugs at the Renton factory, Washingtonry.
The company also did not provide documentation on the process of opening and closing the cap and the bolts that lock it. The suspicion is that they were not installed on the N704AL jet.
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“It’s absurd that two months later we don’t have it,” Homendy said during the hearing.
We have either not gotten an answer, or they’re saying that they’re trying to provide it but can’t find it.”
The accusation of lack of cooperation comes amid systematic statements by Boeing CEO, Dave Calhoun, that the company is cooperating with the investigations and seeking to remedy the quality problems found.
In a statement released late Wednesday, Boeing said it had forwarded the names of employees requested by the NTSB. The company denied that it had withheld information and that it has been cooperating since the beginning of the investigations.
“Early in the investigation, we provided the NTSB with names of Boeing employees, including door specialists, who we believed would have relevant information. We have now provided the full list of individuals on the 737 door team, in response to a recent request. With respect to documentation, if the door plug removal was undocumented there would be no documentation to share. We will continue to cooperate fully and transparently with the NTSB’s investigation.”
