Passengers file class-action lawsuit against Boeing for Alaska Airlines door blowout
CBSDEC 25 2023
Hearing into Alaska Airlines Door Plug Incident Begins
Above: A slideshow begins to be displayed during an investigative hearing on the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 at the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) headquarters on August 06, 2024 in Washington, DC. Image copyright: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Facts
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) hearing on the Jan. 5 incident where the door plugs on an Alaska Airlines flight blew out midair entered its second day on Wednesday, and included testimony on the Boeing 737 Max 9 and the company's safety and manufacturing practices.
On Tuesday, executives from Spirit Aero, the company that produces fuselages for the 737 MAX, and Boeing vice president Elizabeth Lund answered questions from the NTSB, union officials, and Alaska Air in a hearing that lasted 10 hours.
Records from Boeing indicate that Spirit employees replaced rivets around the door in September 2023, with NTSB evidence claiming that the door plugs were closed without three needed bolts. Lund says that authorization for the removal of the plugs couldn't be found.
The Spin
Narrative A
Boeing's reputation has been shred to tatters, with this hearing exposing the pervasive inattention to safety and quality that has led to numerous accidents. The plethora of evidence suggests that Alaska Air was no one off, and serious course corrections are needed. Boeing cannot be trusted to self-regulate, and greater intervention from regulators is sorely needed.
Narrative B
Boeing's manufacturing practices are absolutely standard for an industry of such complexity, and it is the sprawling decentralization of aviation that has made air travel so safe and affordable. There are criticisms to be made of the company's fast-paced culture, but they harbor no systemic issues, and their maligned manufacturing processes are actually to our benefit.
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