Boeing has been sanctioned by the top US accident investigator for having “blatantly violated” regulations by revealing private information to the media and speculating about what caused January’s cabin panel blowout on a brand-new airplane operated by Alaska Airlines.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said it is cooperating with the Department of Justice, which is deciding whether to prosecute Boeing after declaring it had breached a settlement over two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019.
After a door plug blew off a 737 Max 9 shortly after it took off from Portland, Oregon, forcing an Alaska Airlines crew to engineer an emergency landing, the NTSB launched an investigation. The panel appeared to be missing four key bolts, it found.
In an excoriating statement on Thursday, the NTSB said Boeing violated its regulations and a signed agreement the agency has with the company by providing “non-public investigative information” and “speculating about possible causes” of January’s incident during a media briefing.
“As a party to many NTSB investigations over the past decades, few entities know the rules better than Boeing,” the NTSB said. Under new restrictions and sanctions imposed by the agency, Boeing will no longer have access to information the agency produces as it continues its investigation.
Boeing organized the media briefing, which took place on Tuesday, as it scrambled to tackle the concerns of regulators, airlines and passengers about quality and safety on its production line.
But an executive at the company “provided investigative information and gave an analysis of factual information previously released”, the NTSB said. Both actions are banned under Boeing’s agreement with the agency, signed at the start of the Alaska investigation.
The NTSB said Boeing had painted the agency’s investigation “as a search to locate the individual responsible for the door plug work” during the briefing. This is not the case, it clarified: “The NTSB is instead focused on the probable cause of the accident, not placing blame on any individual or assessing liability.”
After hearing about the briefing, the NTSB demanded additional information from Boeing, which provided a transcript that the agency said showed the disclosure of unverified and unauthorized information. “In addition, Boeing offered opinions and analysis on factors it suggested were causal to the accident.”
The NTSB said it plans to “provide details” of the incident to the justice department’s fraud division.
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A spokesman for Boeing said: “As we continue to take responsibility and work transparently, we conducted an in-depth briefing on our safety and quality plan and shared context on the lessons we have learned from the 5 January accident.
“We deeply regret that some of our comments, intended to make clear our responsibility in the accident and explain the actions we are taking, overstepped the NTSB’s role as the source of investigative information. We apologize to the NTSB and stand ready to answer any questions as the agency continues its investigation.”