The National Transportation Safety Board has wrapped up its investigation into the Alaska Airlines flight in Portland, and has now moved the blown-out door plug and other parts to Washington, D.C., to continue its work. This comes as officials continue closed-door talks today with Congress in support of its investigation into the Boeing 737 Max 9.
Officials from NTSB are meeting with members of the House one day after meeting with members of the Senate. They are discussing the safety of the flying public weeks after the Alaska Airlines incident, when a door plug in a Boeing 737 Max 9 jet blew open in mid-flight.
"We'll talk about everything from how the door plug was manufactured, all the way through production and quality assurance," said NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy.
Meanwhile, Boeing is working on repairing its public image. It's now inviting airline representatives to visit its production lines in the name of transparency — an offer that Alaska airlines has already taken up.
However, on Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken had to wait for a new plane while the modified Boeing 737 in which he was supposed to fly detected a critical oxygen leak. While this has little to do with the current Max 9 scrutiny, it's still a bad look for the company scrambling to improve its reputation.
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun spent Wednesday at Spirit Aerosystems, the main supplier of Max 9 fuselages, promising that both companies are going to learn from the inflight blowout on Jan. 5.
The FAA, which is reviewing data collected from 40 grounded Max 9 jets, has now expanded its investigation to include production lines at Spirit Aerosystems.
Boeing to add quality inspections on 737 Max after midflight blowout
Boeing is adding quality inspections and bringing in an outside party to check its work after a plane's unused door blew off midflight last week.
