Aviation manufacturing giant Boeing was put under investigation on Wednesday after a plane it manufactured made an emergency landing due to losing a door plug mid-flight.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating whether Boeing failed to deliver its products in safe conditions for flying and whether the products conformed to FAA-approved designs, according to a letter sent to the company by the regulator. The investigation follows an incident on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 on Friday where the side window panels of the plane blew off mid-flight, leading to an emergency landing and several injuries. (RELATED: Global Trade Falls As Traffic Through The Red Sea Plummets After Attacks)
“This incident should have never happened and it cannot happen again,” the FAA said in the release. “This investigation is a result of an incident on a Boeing Model 737-9 MAX where it lost a ‘plug’ type passenger door and additional discrepancies. Boeing’s manufacturing practices need to comply with the high safety standards they’re legally accountable to meet… The safety of the flying public, not speed, will determine the timeline for returning the Boeing 737-9 Max to service.”
This incident should have never happened and it cannot happen again. The FAA formally notified Boeing that it is conducting an investigation. pic.twitter.com/FJripns1CP
— The FAA ✈️ (@FAANews) January 11, 2024
“We will cooperate fully and transparently with the FAA and the NTSB on their investigations,” Dave Calhoun, Boeing CEO, said in a statement Thursday.
The FAA announced on Saturday that it would be grounding over a hundred planes of the same model worldwide, ordering operators to inspect their own aircraft, which takes from four to eight hours per plane. The Boeing 737 MAX 9 is a plane used by a number of different commercial airlines, including United Airlines, which found in its own inspections loose bolts on at least five of its aircraft of that particular model.
“Safety is our top priority and we deeply regret the impact this event has had on our customers and their passengers,” Boeing said on Saturday after the FAA announced the inspections. “We agree with and fully support the FAA’s decision to require immediate inspections of 737-9 airplanes with the same configuration as the affected airplane. In addition, a Boeing technical team is supporting the [National Transportation Safety Board]’s investigation into the Jan. 5 accident. We will remain in close contact with our regulator and customers.”
The Boeing 737 MAX family of jets has had a number of issues since their launch, including a crash in Indonesia that killed all 189 people on the aircraft and a 2019 crash that killed all 157 people on board, according to Reuters. A U.S. House probe found in 2020 that Boeing had failed in the design of its MAX planes and that the FAA had failed in the regulatory process on the aircraft.
Boeing deferred the Daily Caller News Foundation to previous statements.
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