Boeing faced fresh criticism from federal regulators on Thursday over its disclosures about the ongoing investigation into a deadly January flight in which a panel fell off one of its 737 Max jets, exposing passengers to strong winds at an altitude of about 16,000 feet.
Boeing executive Elizabeth Lund on Tuesday gave new details to reporters at the company's Renton, Washington, factory about how the plane involved in the accident left the factory with four critical bolts missing that secure panels called door plugs.
Boeing said the information would not be released until Thursday morning, based on a mutual agreement to allow reporters in attendance time to digest the detailed briefing.
But on Thursday, the National Transportation Safety Board criticized Boeing for sharing investigative information and speculating about the cause of the crash, saying the company “clearly violated” the board's rules on investigative activities. The board said it would provide details of the violations to the Justice Department, which is investigating the January flight.
“Having been involved in many NTSB investigations over the past few decades, few organizations know the regulations better than Boeing,” the NTSB said in a statement.
The NTSB also said it would revoke Boeing's access to information about the agency's investigation and bar the company from questioning other participants at the August hearing. The agency said it had obtained a recording of the press conference and confirmed the Boeing violations.
In a statement, Boeing apologized for speaking out of turn.
“We deeply regret that some of the comments we made to clarify our responsibility for the accident and explain the actions we are taking went beyond the NTSB's role as an investigative source,” the company said. “We apologize to the NTSB and stand ready to answer any questions as the agency continues its investigation.”
The January crash on an Alaska Airlines plane caused no serious injuries but raised new concerns about the quality of Boeing's planes more than five years after two fatal crashes involving the MAX. In response, Boeing announced changes aimed at improving quality and safety, including expanding training, streamlining plans and procedures and reducing defects from suppliers.
Boeing held a briefing on Tuesday, followed by a tour of the factory, to outline the progress it has made so far to improve quality. Mr. Lund also revealed new details about the events leading up to the accident.
Five rivets did not meet specifications when the plane involved in the January flight arrived at a Boeing factory in summer 2023. Boeing and Spirit discussed how to address the issues while the plane was being worked on at the factory, Lund said at a briefing this week. Work on the plane was nearly complete by the time it was determined the rivets needed to be replaced.
The panel was removed to repair nearby rivets, but no one recorded its removal. A team called the “mobile crew” then prepared the plane for removal and closed the panel, she said. It wasn't that crew's responsibility to replace the bolts that held the door in place, and because there were no records, no one knew to replace the bolts, Lund added.
The panel fit snugly into the gap it covered and lasted about 500 hours of flight before bursting during an Alaska Airlines flight.
When asked by a reporter about who was involved, Rand said, “The responsibility for the 'who' absolutely rests with the NTSB,” and declined to comment further. The NTSB disputed that explanation, saying it was “focused on the possible causes of the accident and is not blaming or assessing responsibility for any specific individuals.” This approach is crucial in such investigations because it encourages individuals with information to come forward without undue fear of retaliation.
Lund was promoted to his current role as senior vice president overseeing quality across Boeing's commercial airplanes business as part of a leadership shakeup in February. He was most recently in charge of commercial airplane production programs. Prior to that, he held other executive roles, including overseeing supply chain development and strategy.
The January accident was another blow to Boeing's reputation following two crashes of its Max 8 planes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people. The crashes led to the Max being grounded worldwide for about 20 months, but the plane began flying again in late 2020.
For years after the crash, Boeing executives assured regulators, airlines and the public that they had made sweeping changes to improve the quality and safety of their planes. But the January accident and allegations of shoddy work and poor business decisions from current and former employees in outlets such as The New York Times suggest that the changes didn't go far enough.
One key change Boeing has made since January is requiring 737 Max planes to pass more rigorous inspections before being shipped to Renton, near Seattle, for final assembly. The planes are made by Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kansas, a supplier that Boeing plans to acquire soon.
The change, implemented several months ago, has significantly reduced the number of critical defects that require repairs at Boeing factories, Lund said. Supplier inspections also allow Boeing to build the Max more quickly once the planes arrive at its factories.
The company is also producing fewer planes than planned after its main regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration, capped production rates after a flight in January.
“We're strengthening our presence at our suppliers, making sure the parts are perfect when they arrive, inspecting them there, reworking them there and then shipping them out,” Lund said. “The benefits are really enormous.”
Lund said the previous Max crisis had forced Boeing to revamp its engineering methods, but the latest incidents have prompted the company to improve its production processes.
“This incident gave us the opportunity to see a different area,” she said.
Other improvements the company has made include strengthening the training new hires receive before they begin working on planes and providing more on-the-job training, Mr. Rand said. The company has provided more than 160 workplace coaches, including veteran and retired mechanics, to help new hires get up to speed on the job.
The company is also accelerating efforts to streamline programs and procedures, Mr. Lund said. Boeing has stepped up inspections and internal oversight, and has placed a renewed emphasis on encouraging employees to speak up about their concerns, gathering thousands of new comments and suggestions for quality improvements.
Boeing is also working to reduce so-called moving tasks, tasks that are done out of sequence that can increase the risk of mistakes and lead to other problems. The company said it has imposed stricter requirements that must be met before a plane can move on the production line. This and other changes have allowed the company to reduce the amount of moving tasks by more than 50 percent, Lund said.
