Boeing Paper Trail Goes Cold Over Door Plug Blowout and Whistleblower Found Dead
Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:
Boeing has come in for criticism from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) over documentation detailing who was responsible for failures in the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 door plug attachment.
NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy spoke before the Senate Commerce Committee on March 6. Responding to a question from ranking member Senator Ted Cruz regarding cooperation from the parties involved in the incident, Homendy said: "Boeing has not provided us with the documents and information that we have requested numerous times over the past few months. Specifically with respect to opening, closing, and removal of the door and the team that does that work at the Renton facility."
[...] Investigations have since focused on the door plug and how it was fitted. A preliminary investigation found that the door plug had not been properly bolted into place following work to deal with damaged rivets at the edge of the door frame.
"Wow," said Cruz. "Are you telling us that even two months later, you still do not know who actually opened the door plug?"
"That's correct, Senator," replied Homendy. "We don't know, and it's not for lack of trying." Homendy acknowledged that it can take a while for all the paperwork to be forthcoming. "But for this one, it's two months later."
Homendy told the committee that despite inquiries, the NTSB had not received the names of the 25-member team handling the door plugs. It had also not received all the records regarding the work to deal with the door plug and was having to use email dates and photographs to work out the timeline.
"It's absurd that we don't have that," said Homendy.
Read more of this story at SoylentNews.