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thewayneOne complaint that investigators into Boeing's systems after the plug blow-out was that there didn't seem to be any paperwork regarding repairing the door. Suspicions were raised that Boeing or people on the shop floor deleted said records, but 'we the people' never really heard the resolution of this.
Now a Boeing executive is saying there was no paperwork because the door plug repair was not assigned to a repair team! Now, obviously that demonstrates a problem. Why was no ticket issued? Inquiring minds want to know!
We may have an explanation: " Boeing said during the Tuesday briefing that the reason the Alaska Air door plug was not probably secured in the first place was because two different groups of employees at the plant were charged with doing the work, with one removing and the other reinstalling the door plug as the plane was passing along the assembly line.
The first group of employees removed the door plug to address problems with some rivets that were made by a supplier, Spirit AeroSystems. But they didn’t generate the paperwork indicating they had removed the door plug, along with the four bolts necessary to hold it in place, in order to do that work.
When a different group of employees put the plug back in place, Boeing says the employees didn’t think the plane would actually fly in that condition.
Instead, they were just blocking the hole with the plug to protect the inside of the fuselage from weather as the plane moved outside to a different area of the factory compound. That group of employees often makes those kind of temporary fixes.
“The doors team closes up the aircraft before it is moved outside, but it’s not their responsibility to install the pins,” said Elizabeth Lund, senior vice president of quality for Boeing’s commercial airplane unit. "
But there's a bigger problem. :-)
This is a Federal investigation by the NTSB. Boing isn't supposed to say 'boo' unless it is cleared with the NTSB for release. They don't want any information being released until it's reviewed and approved, they want anything released to be as truthful as possible.
Care to guess what the Boing exec who released this information didn't do?
And the consequences are pretty grave for Boeing. "The NTSB said that given its recent actions, Boeing won’t have access to investigative information the agency produces about the Alaska Airlines incident, but it will keep its party status to the investigation.
The NTSB is unable to fine Boeing, as it doesn’t have enforcement authority. While the agency could have stripped away Boeing’s party status, the NTSB may have considered it more important to keep Boeing as a party to the investigation because of its employees’ expertise.
The NTSB said that it may subpoena any relevant records it requires during the course of the investigation. It also will subpoena Boeing to appear at an investigative hearing in Washington D.C. on Aug. 6 and 7. The agency said that, unlike other parties, Boeing won’t be able to ask questions of other participants."
Boeing knew the rules of an NTSB investigation as they've been party to quite a few of them. There's really no excuse for this kind of stupidity. This might be an executive resume-generating event.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/27/business/boeing-cause-alaska-air-door-plug
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/boeing-sanctioned-sharing-737-max-9-investigation-info_n_667d5231e4b07cb66c6d070b
Now a Boeing executive is saying there was no paperwork because the door plug repair was not assigned to a repair team! Now, obviously that demonstrates a problem. Why was no ticket issued? Inquiring minds want to know!
We may have an explanation: " Boeing said during the Tuesday briefing that the reason the Alaska Air door plug was not probably secured in the first place was because two different groups of employees at the plant were charged with doing the work, with one removing and the other reinstalling the door plug as the plane was passing along the assembly line.
The first group of employees removed the door plug to address problems with some rivets that were made by a supplier, Spirit AeroSystems. But they didn’t generate the paperwork indicating they had removed the door plug, along with the four bolts necessary to hold it in place, in order to do that work.
When a different group of employees put the plug back in place, Boeing says the employees didn’t think the plane would actually fly in that condition.
Instead, they were just blocking the hole with the plug to protect the inside of the fuselage from weather as the plane moved outside to a different area of the factory compound. That group of employees often makes those kind of temporary fixes.
“The doors team closes up the aircraft before it is moved outside, but it’s not their responsibility to install the pins,” said Elizabeth Lund, senior vice president of quality for Boeing’s commercial airplane unit. "
But there's a bigger problem. :-)
This is a Federal investigation by the NTSB. Boing isn't supposed to say 'boo' unless it is cleared with the NTSB for release. They don't want any information being released until it's reviewed and approved, they want anything released to be as truthful as possible.
Care to guess what the Boing exec who released this information didn't do?
And the consequences are pretty grave for Boeing. "The NTSB said that given its recent actions, Boeing won’t have access to investigative information the agency produces about the Alaska Airlines incident, but it will keep its party status to the investigation.
The NTSB is unable to fine Boeing, as it doesn’t have enforcement authority. While the agency could have stripped away Boeing’s party status, the NTSB may have considered it more important to keep Boeing as a party to the investigation because of its employees’ expertise.
The NTSB said that it may subpoena any relevant records it requires during the course of the investigation. It also will subpoena Boeing to appear at an investigative hearing in Washington D.C. on Aug. 6 and 7. The agency said that, unlike other parties, Boeing won’t be able to ask questions of other participants."
Boeing knew the rules of an NTSB investigation as they've been party to quite a few of them. There's really no excuse for this kind of stupidity. This might be an executive resume-generating event.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/27/business/boeing-cause-alaska-air-door-plug
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/boeing-sanctioned-sharing-737-max-9-investigation-info_n_667d5231e4b07cb66c6d070b
no subject
Date: 2024-06-29 02:37 am (UTC)I wonder if the executive who made the statement is one of the new ones brought in and may not be versed in NTSB investigation protocol. It doesn't excuse the slip, I'm probably giving far too much benefit of the doubt.