Security footage that could identify who worked on the Alaska Airlines Boeing jet that lost a door plug mid-flight has been overwritten, complicating the investigation into the near-disaster, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board revealed Wednesday.
The Boeing 737 MAX 9 was forced to make an emergency landing on Jan. 5 — the same day the plane was scheduled to undergo maintenance — and an investigation later showed that there had been no bolts on the door plug that flew off mid-air.
The aircraft had also undergone rivet repairs several months earlier, but Boeing has been unable to supply any information on who worked on the failed door plug, NTSB Chairman Jennifer Homendy wrote Wednesday in a shocking letter to the Senate Commerce Committee.
Boeing also lost video footage that would have tracked down the worker, Homendy said in the letter.
“To date, we still do not know who performed the work to open, reinstall, and close the door plug on the accident aircraft. Boeing has informed us that they are unable to find the records documenting this work,” Homendy wrote.
“A verbal request was made by our investigators for security camera footage to help obtain this information; however, they were informed the footage was overwritten.
“The absence of those records will complicate the NTSB’s investigation moving forward.”
The NTSB had been seeking such vital documents since Jan. 9, just four days after the door blew off the 177-passenger plane and landed in an Oregon yard.
The four bolts might not have been put back on the plane during a September repair that required the door plug to be opened, removed and reattached.
Last week, the Senate Committee asked Homendy whether Boeing had ever provided the NTSB with such information so the agency could determine why the four missing bolts were never re-installed during its repair work in September.
Boeing gave NTSB investigators the names of individuals who may have insight into the work — but “did not identify which personnel conducted the door plug work,” the letter states.
The door crew manager also refused via his attorneys to talk with investigators, stating he could not partake in interviews because he was on medical leave from Boeing.
When pressed for names, Boeing Chief Executive Officer David Calhoun allegedly told Homendy there were no records of the work being performed.
“I have become increasingly concerned that the focus on the names of individual front-line workers will negatively impact our investigation and discourage such Boeing employees from providing NTSB with information relevant to this investigation,” Homendy wrote, adding that the NTSB is not seeking names for punitive purposes.
Boeing pushed back against Homendy’s letter, claiming it has been cooperating with investigators throughout the process.
The surveillance footage was not deleted out of any malfeasance, but because it is the company’s standard practice to only maintain video recordings on a rolling 30-day basis.
“We will continue supporting this investigation in the transparent and proactive fashion we have supported all regulatory inquiries into this accident. We have worked hard to honor the rules about the release of investigative information in an environment of intense interest from our employees, customers, and other stakeholders, and we will continue our efforts to do so,” Boeing said in a statement.
The 737 MAX 9 at the center of the investigation was forced to make an emergency landing after the Jan. 5 incident.
The plane had been slated for maintenance later in the evening after the light indicating problems with the pressurization system had come on twice in the previous 10 days, according to a Wednesday New York Times report.
The warning lights did not demand immediate action and may not have been related to the eventual blowout.
The Justice Department last week launched a criminal investigation to determine whether Boeing complied with a $2.5 billion settlement in 2021 following a federal investigation into fatal flights involving Boeing Max 737 planes in 2018 and 2019 that claimed 346 souls.
If the DOJ finds Boeing violated the terms of its 2021 settlement, the aircraft manufacturing giant could be prosecuted for defrauding the US, the outlet reported.
