Now the new developments in the investigation into the Alaska
Airlines plane after part of it fell off mid flight
and now both Alaska and United Airlines report finding loose
parts
on some of their Boeing
737 Max 9 planes. The chair of the NTSB joins
us live in just a moment.
But first, our transportation correspondent Gio Benitez is in Portland,
OR. Good morning, Gio.
Hey, Robin. Good morning. Yeah.
The NTSB now knows that the top fitting of the
door plug was actually fractured,
so the door moved up and then out.
So the big question right now is,
were the bolts to hold it there ever installed or
did they break?
And of course, there's that new concern.
What about the other planes with loose bolts?
This morning, the growing fallout from that Alaska Airlines flight
losing its door plug?
Mid air. The company saying it found some loose hardware
during its initial inspection of its
737 Max 9 fleet, while United Airlines,
which has 79 Max nines,
said it found loose bolts on some of its door
plugs which are used to cover and seal optional emergency
exits.
The airline won't say how many planes are affected,
but that they appear to relate to installation issues in
the door plug and need additional tightening.
The fact that loose bolts have been found and other
similar aircraft indicates that possibly this is an endemic problem
that was created in manufacturing this.
After that missing door plug from
Alaska's Max 9 was finally found,
the NTSB searching for four bolts that should have stopped
the door plug from flying off the plane at
16,000 feet. What everybody was looking for in Portland was
actually in my backyard,
and I was the first one to actually see it
landing in the backyard of Portland.
Teacher Bob Sauer. A friend of mine called me and
said you should probably check your backyard.
Once I'd finished my work for the day,
I came out to look for it,
and that's when I found it.
Well, my heart started beating a little faster.
So yeah, I guess I was excited.
I went back in the house
and I first called the NTSB.
We were very careful not to touch anything
during that time because I figured the NTSB would want
to see it in the condition that had fallen in
the images of the door plug and the plane triggering
new questions.
There is more than likely a problem here with the
latching mechanism or with the way it was installed.
Attention now turning to the company that manufactured the fuselage
of Boeing
737 Max 9, Spirit Aero Systems.
Issues with its fuselages led to delays of Boeing Max
planes last year.
The company saying in a statement Spirit is a committed
partner with Boeing on the
737 program and we continue to work together with them
on this matter.
Kelly Bartlett describing the chaos when that door plug flew
off the Alaska plane.
Somebody had jumped over me to sit down in that
empty seat and I just thought,
where did you come from?
Like why are you. I didn't know what was going
on.
The plug leaving a gaping hole in the 26 row.
The two seats closest to it just happened to be
empty.
But the third seat on the aisle occupied by a
teen whose shirt flew off.
Bartlett says he ran up to her row after the
incident.
The kid who was sitting in that row like his
seat belt had saved his life because that's why he
didn't have my shirt on was the suction had just
torn it off. Hundreds of flights now canceled this week
as those Max nines are inspected.
There are more than 170 around the world.
And a key question right now were those planes delivered
to the airlines with loose bolts or did those bolts
become loose over time?
It turns out the airlines would have only found this
during heavy maintenance every two to three years.
Oh my. OK, Gio, thanks very much.
Let's talk about this with the chair of the National
Transportation Safety Board,
Jennifer Hamid Dimas Hamidi, thank you for joining us this
morning.
A lot of nervous Flyers out there.
Is the Boeing Max plane safe?
Well, right now we are focused on this particular AT
aircraft so we can determine what happened,
why it happened and to prevent it from happening again.
However, at some point we may need to go broader.
But right now we have to figure out how this
occurred with this aircraft.
What what more do you know,
I I guess your investigators aren't even sure that there
were bolts on the door.
Well, right now what we do know
through examination is that the fittings on the top of
the plug fractured,
allowing the plug door to move upward and outward.
So but, but but why were they loose?
Do you know anything more about about why they were
loose?
Well, in this situation the
the fittings at the top of the door plug fractured.
We don't know if the bolts were loose.
We don't know if bolts were
in there fractured or possibly the bolts weren't there at
all.
We have to determine that back in our laboratory,
right. OK. How much do we know about the broader
situation?
We do know that United has reported these loose bolts
as well.
That's right. We have heard reports from United,
Alaska and Boeing about loose bolts.
We are aware of those.
Those are being reported to the Federal Aviation Administration who's
in charge
of the inspections and the mandates for the repair.
Right now though, our focus is on this aircraft.
So. So we don't know yet as Geo was raised
in his tag right there whether these planes were delivered
with loose bolts or whether that developed over time
that
that's right, we don't know that
that will be part of the investigation.
Are we at the point now where all where you're
going to order that all planes,
all of these planes are inspected for loose bolts?
That is within the purview of the regulator,
which in this case is the Federal Aviation Administration.
The NTS, BS entire mission is to investigate and issue
safety recommendations,
sometimes urgent safety recommendations. In this case it's FAA that
is responsible for any grounding of the fleet,
not the NTSB. Would you feel safe flying on a
Boeing Max plane right now?
I would feel safe flying right now.
Our aviation system is the safest in the world.
We are the global standard for global gold standard for
safety.
But when these events occur,
significant events occur. We have to figure out what happened
here and so so because we want to prevent it
from happening again.
So you'd feel safe even on a Boeing Max plane
now?
Absolutely. I I feel safe
flying. Your biggest danger every day during your commute or
travel to the airport is getting in your vehicle.
43,000 people are dying on our nation's roads annually.
Millions more are injured. That is the riskiest part of
your commute.
Miss, how Many thanks very much for your time this
morning.
Thank you for having me.