Boeing is being sanctioned by the National Transportation Safety Board after breaking an agreement by disclosing non-public details of the agency’s investigation into the Alaska Airlines door panel blown out into the air.
The NTSB said Thursday that an unidentified Boeing executive disclosed nonpublic information from the investigation during a media briefing Tuesday and provided an analysis of some facts that had previously been released. It noted that both actions are prohibited under an agreement Boeing signed that gave the plane maker status as a party to the investigation.
“Since Boeing has been involved in many NTSB investigations over the decades, few organizations know the rules better than Boeing,” the NTSB said in its statement.
The investigation concerns the Jan. 5 incident when Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, carrying 174 passengers and six crew members on a Boeing 737 Max 9, had a door panel explode in midair just minutes after the flight took off from Portland. Oregon. .
The agency said Boeing will no longer have access to the investigative information it produces during its investigation, and that the NTSB will also subpoena the company to appear at an August 6-7 investigative hearing in Washington DC.
“Unlike the other parties to the hearing, Boeing will not be allowed to ask questions of other participants,” the NTSB said.
