Boeing will face sanctions after breaking an agreement to release details of an investigation into the 737 Max 9 door panel that exploded in mid-air, the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday.
The agency said in a statement that Boeing “blatantly violated the NTSB’s investigative rules” during a news conference on Tuesday by providing investigative information that had not been released to the public and by speculating about the cause of the incident nearly six months ago.
The Alaska Airlines flight lost a door panel while traveling at 16,000 feet on January 5, about 10 minutes before its scheduled arrival time in Portland, Oregon. The accident threw Boeing into crisis and raised lingering questions about the safety problems of other aircraft models, which are now the subject of multiple federal investigations.
The NTSB said an unidentified Boeing executive spoke Tuesday about improvements at Boeing’s commercial aircraft division, including “analysis of previously released factual information.”
Boeing also mischaracterized the investigation, the statement said, describing it as an effort to find the person responsible for installing the door plug.
“The NTSB is instead focusing on the probable cause of the accident, without placing blame on any individual or assessing liability,” the statement said.
According to the board, this means that Boeing has violated the party agreement that it signed at the start of the investigation.
Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.
In a sharp rebuke, the agency said that because the company has been a party or active participant providing evidence in many NTSB investigations, “few entities know the rules better than Boeing.”
As a result, the report said, Boeing will remain a party to the board’s investigation but will no longer have access to investigative information it collects in creating a full factual account of the accident.
The NTSB requested a transcript of Tuesday’s meeting, which they said showed the company “provided non-public investigative information to the news media that NTSB had not verified or approved for release.”
The board also accused Boeing of “providing opinions and analysis on factors it believes played a role in the accident.”
The board also said it would subpoena Boeing to appear at an investigative hearing on August 6 and 7 in Washington, where the company’s lawyers and executives will not be able to ask questions.
The NTSB said it would cooperate with the Justice Department’s Fraud Division in providing details about this week’s alleged unauthorized release of information.
Boeing is also accused by the DOJ of violating a 2021 deferred prosecution agreement that shielded the company from criminal charges related to fatal crashes of the 737 Max.
The company said it believed it had complied with the terms of that agreement and that it would work with the DOJ “with the utmost transparency, as we have done throughout the life of the agreement.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
