Boeing Runs Afoul Of NTSB For Media Leak Of 737 MAX 9 Incident

The National Transportation Safety Board has issued restrictions and sanctions on Boeing for disclosing non-public details of its investigation into the Alaska Airlines flight 1282 door plug blow-out during a media briefing at its Renton facility this Tuesday.

In a statement, the NTSB said Boeing “blatantly violated NTSB investigative regulations” and its “signed party agreement with the NTSB” by sharing “non-public investigative information to the media and speculating about possible causes of the Jan. 5 door-plug blowout on a Boeing passenger jet in Portland, Oregon.”

Around four dozen media representatives from the U.S. and around the world attended the briefing on Tuesday. Among them, The Air Current, which was first to report on the NTSB sanctions and characterized the disclosure of safety information as brief. Reporters present are under embargo from Boeing for full coverage of the event.

The NTSB says a Boeing executive shared details of the investigation with the media and “gave an analysis of factual information” both prohibited by the party status agreement Boeing signed when the investigation began.

“As a party to many NTSB investigations over the past decades, few entities know the rules better than Boeing. Because of Boeing’s recent actions, Boeing will retain its party status, but no longer have access to the investigative information the NTSB produces as it develops the factual record of the accident,” the NTSB stated.

The NTSB said it may subpoena any Boeing records it requires and will also subpoena Boeing to appear at a hearing scheduled for August 6 and 7 in Washington, DC.

“Unlike the other parties in the hearing, Boeing will not be allowed to ask questions of other participants,” the NTSB stated.

The most serious set-back of this breach is that it has pitted the NTSB against Boeing in the U.S. Department of Justice review of the plane manufacturer’s Deferred Prosecution Agreement, just as the DOJ is under pressure to press criminal charges against Boeing executives and issue heavy fines.

“The NTSB will be coordinating with the DOJ Fraud Division to provide details about Boeing’s recent unauthorized investigative information releases in the 737 MAX 9 door plug investigation,” the NTSB stated.

The NTSB was unaware of the planned media briefing before it took place. The agency has not disclosed how it learned of the event or shared specifics of what was discussed with the press. Upon learning about the briefing, the NTSB asked Boeing to provide information. Boeing shared a transcript of the event with the NTSB which revealed that Boeing had indeed violated the terms of its investigative party agreement by sharing information that was not authorized for release.

“In addition, Boeing offered opinions and analysis on factors it suggested were causal to the accident,” the NTSB stated.

Perhaps the most inflammatory action was Boeing’s framing of the ongoing investigation to identify how and why four bolts which would have prevented the door plug from coming loose were not installed in the assembly when the Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 jet left Boeing’s facility.

Boeing and the NTSB have been at odds over this issue from early on in the investigation. The work was evidently undocumented and critical details, including who performed the repair on a nearby frame when the door plug bolts may have been removed, are missing.

“In the briefing, Boeing portrayed the NTSB investigation as a search to locate the individual responsible for the door plug work,” the agency stated. “The NTSB is instead focused on the probable cause of the accident, not placing blame on any individual or assessing liability.”