NTSB chief rips Boeing over lack of 737 Max answers

The head of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) took aim at Boeing for a lack of answers connected to a midair blowout involving a Boeing 737 Max earlier this year.

A door plug on an Alaska Airlines flight earlier this year blew off while in flight, prompting investigations into how the plug was able to tear off the Boeing 737 Max. In a preliminary report released earlier this year, the NTSB said four bolts meant to help secure the door plug were missing after it was opened for rivet repair work in September.

The NTSB has said that no records about how the door was installed have been turned over to investigators. Boeing has said there is no documentation of the door plug being installed.

NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy expressed frustration with Boeing for its lack of answers during a public hearing Wednesday, according to multiple reports.

“We don’t know and neither do they, and that’s a problem,” she said to reporters, according to CNN.

She asked Boeing executive Hector Silva whether an issue like this could happen again, CNN reported. He answered “no” when asked whether he was “100 percent sure a defect will not occur tomorrow” and whether he was “100 percent sure there will never be an unauthorized removal” of a door plug.

Homendy told reporters that an incident like this should not have happened, according to Reuters.

“This should have been caught years before,” she said.

“There have been numerous, numerous Boeing audits, [Federal Aviation Administration] audits, compliance reviews, compliance actions plans, noting a history of an unauthorized work, unauthorized removals,” she added.

In the first day of the NTSB’s public hearing Tuesday, Boeing factory workers said they felt pressured to work fast and to complete jobs that they did not feel they were qualified for, The Associated Press (AP) reported. One of the workers on the door crew said they received no special training for the door plugs, according to the AP.

The AP also reported that the Alaska Airlines co-pilot described the flight as “chaos” to investigators during Tuesday’s hearing as he recounted when the door plug blew off.

The Hill has reached out to Boeing for comment.

The Associated Press contributed.