Federal safety hearing over 737 Max blowout puts Boeing, Spirit AeroSystems factories in spotlight

A Boeing safety executive told a federal safety hearing on Tuesday that the company is working on design changes to avoid a repeat of the near catastrophic blowout of a door plug from a practically new 737 Max 9 at the start of the year.

The National Transportation Safety Board — the body in charge of aviation accident investigations in the U.S. — released more than 3,000 pages of documents ahead its full two-day hearing about Flight 1282, including interviews with employees at Boeing and its beleaguered fuselage maker Spirit AeroSystems, some of which pointed to rework.

“I just want a word of caution here, this is not a PR campaign for Boeing,” NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said. “This is an investigation on what happened on Jan. 5. Understand?”

Bolts that were meant to hold the door in place weren’t attached, according to preliminary investigation results. While there were no serious injuries, the accident put the spotlight back on Boeing’s safety procedures and a series of manufacturing flaws that required changes at the company’s factories, including what led up to the door plug getting removed, but not secured last year.

“They are working on some design changes that will allow the door, the plug, to not be closed if there is any issue, until it is firmly secure,” said Elizabeth Lund, who heads safety for Boeing’s commercial airplane unit. The changes would be implemented within the year, Lund said.

The blowout plunged Boeing back into crisis mode and prompted a management shakeup, including the appointment of a new CEO, Robert “Kelly“ Ortberg, an aerospace veteran who previously headed Rockwell Collins. He starts on Thursday.

The accident has also delayed deliveries of new planes to customers, further eroding the iconic U.S. manufacturer’s relationship with airlines — and with regulators.

Outgoing CEO Dave Calhoun has said Boeing is working to stamp out so-called traveled work, where defective components of the plane need to be fixed, out of sequence, before the aircraft are handed over to customers. Boeing is in the process of buying back Spirit AeroSystems, a move the company says will give it a closer eye on quality.

“We’ve been put in uncharted waters to where … we were replacing doors like we were replacing our underwear, forward doors, cargo doors, E/E bay doors,” said one Boeing worker, whose name was redacted from testimony. “The planes come in jacked up every day.”