When Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 experienced a catastrophic structural failure at 16,000 feet on Jan. 5, it was a stark reminder of the enormous responsibility Boeing has as an airplane manufacturer—and why the company needs to do more to regain public trust.
The sudden loss of a 2-foot by 4-foot door plug, weighing 63 pounds, sent shockwaves through the cabin, resulting in rapid depressurization, the cockpit door being forced open, and critical equipment being sucked away. While the pilots admirably maintained control, skillfully executing an emergency descent and landing, Boeing and Alaska Airlines (and, most importantly, the passengers) got off lucky. This incident is a grim reminder of Boeing's failure to address issues in its 737-800 MAX planes just a few years ago, which resulted in the deaths of 346 people.
It was a miracle that no one died. First, the two seats adjacent to the door plug that blew out were fortunately empty. The airplane had 178 available seats and 171 passengers on board, so the odds that those seats would be empty were extremely low. Second, the blow-out occurred at 16,000 feet, a point in the flight when the passengers and crew were all seated and buckled in. This event would have been far more dangerous if it had occurred at cruise altitude, which is usually 30,000 feet or above, with flight attendants and passengers are unbuckled and up and about the cabin. Lastly, the door plug did not hit and damage the airplane's tail when it blew out, which would have resulted in the loss of the airplane and the deaths of everyone on board.
Furthermore, the airplane was new—Boeing only delivered it to Alaska Airlines about three months before the accident. Commercial airliners are not supposed to suffer structural failures, and when structural failures do occur, they are usually on older airplanes that have suffered metal fatigue from prolonged use, not new airplanes.
The aviation community has been riveted by the mystery of what could have caused such a dangerous accident in a brand-new airplane. Boeing seems to have solved the mystery, with Boeing CEO David Calhoun admitting that Boeing had made a "mistake" that caused the terrifying midair blowout of the door plug.
As of now, we do not know the full details of the mistake and how Boeing identified that it had made the mistake. That information, however, did not come out of the National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) investigation, but from inside Boeing. The mistake must relate to the installation of the door, including potentially the way four bolts that help secure the plug door in place were installed, if indeed Boeing or its supplier installed them at all since the investigators have not found any of the bolts. Meanwhile, inspections have revealed loose bolts in other Boeing 737-900 MAX airplanes.
Aviation safety relies on quality control systems that ensure proper airplane assembly and maintenance. The systems identify and fix mistakes. If a technician fails to install components of the plug door properly, the quality control inspection identifies and remedies the mistake. It appears that Boeing has admitted that its quality assurance system did not operate properly and failed to identify the crucial mistake that resulted in the Alaska Air Flight 1282 accident and put 177 lives at risk.
Mr. Calhoun's quick admission to Boeing's mistake stands in stark contrast to his predecessor's less-than-forthcoming responses to the two prior Boeing MAX accidents— the 2018 Lion Air Flight 602 and the 2019 Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 disasters. The victims of those accidents only received a belated and forced apology. We cannot excuse Boeing's mistake, however, since it comes so soon after the two prior MAX crashes and the resulting massive attention to Boeing's safety practices over the past few years.
Boeing has long been considered one of America's greatest companies, with a deep and storied history where its engineers and pilots contributed to aviation safety through the development of safer airplanes and systems. In recent years, however, there have been too many mistakes, too many accidents, and too many close calls. Alaska Air Flight 1282 is another wake-up call for the company and Calhoun.
It is important, however, that Boeing and the NTSB identify and fix all potential problems with the Boeing 737-900 MAX before the Federal Aviation Administration permits the airplane to fly again. There are tremendous financial pressures to get the airplanes back to work, but until we know the full details of the mistake and whether the breakdown in quality control at Boeing has implications for other parts of the airplane, the airplanes must remain grounded. And Boeing, maybe for once, can take this wake-up call seriously and eliminate the rot that has infected a once admired company.
Justin Green is an aviation analyst, a partner and aviation lawyer at the Kreindler & Kreindler LLP law firm in New York, and a former military pilot. He is also representing families who lost loved ones in Ethiopian Airlines flight 302.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
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