Four bolts used to secure a door plug on the Boeing 737 Max 9 that blew off of an Alaska Airlines jet last month were removed and seemingly not replaced before the plane was delivered, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Transportation Safety Board.
The investigators’ findings come just over a month after a door panel on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 blew out shortly after departing Portland International Airport in Oregon on Jan. 5. The incident caused Boeing to ground all Max 9 jets immediately. The 19-page report of the door plug, which fell 16,000 feet, found that when the panel was removed to conduct repairs, not all four bolts were put back in, leading investigators to confirm that at the time of takeoff, the bolts were in fact missing.
“Overall, the observed damage patterns and absence of contact damage or deformation around holes associated with the vertical movement arrestor bolts and upper guide track bolts in the upper guide fittings, hinge fittings, and recovered aft lower hinge guide fitting indicate that the four bolts that prevent upward movement of the [mid exit door plug] were missing before the MED plug moved upward off the stop pads,” the report said.
In the report, the NTSB included a photograph of the door plug after it was reinstalled with no bolts. While one bolt area was covered by insulation, it was confirmed in the report that in their laboratory investigations, the bolt was also not put back. The report said there was no evidence to suggest the door was reopened after it left the facility and was delivered to Alaska Airlines in October.
“Going forward, we will have more boots on the ground closely scrutinizing and monitoring production and manufacturing activities,” Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Mike Whitaker told Congress on Tuesday.
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The report follows intense public scrutiny over Boeing’s manufacturing mistakes, which have prompted safety concerns. Boeing announced Monday that 50 undelivered Max 9 jets would have to be repaired at the Renton factory in Washington after a Spirit AeroSystems worker reported misdrilled holes were found in the jets’ fuselages.
The report does not contain a final probable cause for the missing bolts, and it could take up to a year for the NTSB to release a full report.
