DALLAS — Seattle Times aerospace reporter Dominic Gates reported today that a Boeing whistleblower says mechanics on the company’s Renton final assembly line removed the fuselage panel that blew off an Alaska Airlines (AS) Boeing 737-9 on January 5 for repair and then reinstalled it improperly.
If the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation findings corroborate this information, it would indicate that Boeing is principally responsible for the accident rather than its supplier, Spirit AeroSystems, which originally installed the panel into the 737-9 fuselage in Wichita, Kansas.
The Seattle Times report would give more context to AS CEO Ben Minicucci’s comments to NBC News, where he lamented that Boeing was better than this. “Flight 1282 should never have happened. It should never have happened.” The same sentiment came from United Airlines (UA) CEO Scott Kirby, who commented to CNBC that he was “disappointed” and criticized the manufacturer for its recent quality lapses.
In a statement to NBC News, Boeing said: “We have let down our airline customers and are deeply sorry for the significant disruption to them, their employees and their passengers. We are taking action on a comprehensive plan to bring these airplanes safely back to service and to improve our quality and delivery performance. We will follow the lead of the FAA and support our customers every step of the way.”
The anonymous whistleblower, who appears to...
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