Boeing Door Plug Removal Footage Was Overwritten, Says Safety Agency

Boeing’s video footage exhibiting precisely who labored on the 737 Max 9 door that flew off an Alaska Airways flight has been erased, and the NTSB believes the corporate’s attempting to cover the data.

Nationwide Transportation Safety Board chairman, Jennifer Homendy, wrote a letter Wednesday to the Senate Commerce Committee … saying they’re nonetheless at nighttime about which Boeing workers have been concerned within the door’s restore. That they had requested the record of names when the preliminary report into the investigation revealed the door had no bolts through the mid-flight scare on January 5.

Homendy accused Boeing of obstructing their investigation … telling Senators Maria Cantwell and Ted Cruz, “We still have no clue who did the work to open, reinstall, and close the door plug on the accident aircraft.” She added, “Boeing has informed us that they are unable to find the records documenting this work.”

Throughout her testimony earlier than the SCC earlier this month, Homendy clarified Boeing solely offered a listing of workers who report back to the door crew supervisor, however not precisely who had labored on the door plug in query.

In her letter, Homendy says she then reached out to Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun to acquire the names, however he knowledgeable her he could not present that data, sustaining Boeing had no data of the work being finished.

Homendy says the absence of these names has resulted in a irritating roadblock within the NTSB’s investigation — and she or he clarifies they are not searching for the names for punitive causes, and can safeguard the identities of the staff concerned.

You will keep in mind … the Boeing plane needed to make an emergency touchdown in Portland after one in every of the cabin windows blew out, inflicting a terrifying scene with belongings of frightened passengers being sucked out.

Alaska Airways CEO Ben Minicucci introduced on the time the corporate can be grounding its fleet of 65 Boeing 737-9 plane quickly for a radical inspection and upkeep as a precautionary measure. By the top of the month, they obtained the all-clear to renew flights.

Nevertheless, former Boeing high quality supervisor John Barnett got here on “TMZ Live” to make it clear he disagreed with that call … as a result of he claimed Boeing was ignoring vital security considerations.

Barnett had even taken his struggle in opposition to Boeing a step additional by submitting a lawsuit, alleging retaliation for his whistleblowing efforts. He sat for a deposition within the solid final week, and the very subsequent day he was found dead … allegedly by suicide.