Boeing’s safety record and its reliability took another hit last week. And the impact extends beyond that created by an airplane door plug and a couple of cellphones falling some 16,000 feet to the ground.
About 10 minutes after Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 took off Friday from Portland International Airport, a piece of the fuselage on the Boeing 737 Max 9 broke off. With a gaping hole in the side of the cabin, the plane returned for an emergency landing at PDX.
While we can only imagine the terror felt by passengers, the early aftermath of the event is equally disturbing. Officials from Alaska and United Airlines have reported finding loose parts on the door plugs of other Boeing 737 Max 9 jets. Door plugs are panels placed where an emergency exit would be if a plane had more seats.
A statement from United officials said: “Since we began preliminary inspections on Saturday, we have found instances that appear to relate to installation issues in the door plug — for example, bolts that needed additional tightening.” On Monday, representatives from the National Transportation Safety Board said it is possible that four bolts designed to hold the panel in place may have been missing when Flight 1282 took off.
All Boeing 737 Max 9 planes have been grounded and an investigation is underway, but the incident highlights ongoing problems at the aerospace giant. For a company that serves as one of Washington’s largest employers, purchases parts from thousands of regional vendors and has been an icon of the Puget Sound region for decades, those problems resonate throughout the state.
The most simplistic preliminary assessment points to shoddy workmanship and a culture in which safety has been diminished in recent decades. Following international crashes of 737 Max 8 planes in 2018 and 2019, the model was grounded for 21 months. Investigations revealed lax oversight that allowed the company to certify some of its own safety measures.
The string of incidents should be viewed as a call for more attention to workmanship at assembly plants in Everett and Renton. Instead, Boeing officials have petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration for an exemption from some safety standards for the 737 Max 7, which has yet to earn certification.
It all adds up to a lack of diligence at Boeing, which moved its headquarters from Seattle to Chicago in 2001. During investigations into the 737 Max 8 crashes, internal communications showed one employee describing the plane as “designed by clowns, who in turn are supervised by monkeys.”
In contrast, at least two cellphones that were sucked out of the plane Friday have been found intact on the ground near Portland. In one instance, Sean Bates of Vancouver posted photos on social media showing he had found an iPhone with the screen displaying a baggage claim ticket for Flight 1282.
When a cellphone is sturdier than an airplane designed to carry hundreds of passengers, Boeing officials should take note.
The saga of Flight 1282 adds to a disturbingly long list of safety shortcomings at Boeing. Rather than seeking safety exemptions or paying a fired CEO $60 million in severance — as Boeing did in 2019 — the company should focus on providing safe travel to the world.
As Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, said of Friday’s incident, it was “very fortunate here that this didn’t end up in something more tragic.” That is not a ringing endorsement for a company whose identity depends on safety.
