Boeing acknowledges their error regarding plane door blow-out

• The missing section of the plane was recovered from a Portland teacher’s backyard.
• The incident led to the US grounding of 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 planes.
• Boeing imposed restrictions on the aircraft following pressurization warnings.

On Tuesday, Boeing’s president and chief executive, Dave Calhoun, admitted that the plane maker was at fault after one of its aircraft experienced a door blow-out shortly after take-off in the US.

No injuries were reported when the unused cabin door broke away from the Alaska Airlines flight departing from Portland, Oregon, on Friday. Since the incident, the US has grounded 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 planes.

The door “plug,” weighing 27kg (60lb), used to fill an unnecessary emergency exit on the plane, broke away. The missing section of the plane was recovered from the backyard of a Portland teacher, as confirmed by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

Investigators also revealed that the airline imposed restrictions on the aircraft following pressurization warnings in the days leading up to the incident.

Speaking to Boeing staff, Mr Calhoun said: “We’re going to approach this number one acknowledging our mistake. We will approach it with 100% and complete transparency every step of the way.”

NTSB investigation:

Mr Calhoun reassured staff that Boeing would work with the NTSB to investigate the cause of the accident.

“They will get to a conclusion… the FAA [Federal Aviation Authority] who has to now deal with airline customers who want airplanes back in service safely and to ensure all the procedures are put into place, inspections, all the readiness actions that are required to ensure every next airplane that moves into the sky is safe and that this event can never happen again,” he said.

The Boeing boss also empathized with those who watched with horror at the footage of the incident: “When I got that picture, all I could think about – I didn’t know what happened so whoever was supposed to be in the seat next to that hole in the airplane. I’ve got kids, I’ve got grandkids and so do you. This stuff matters. Every detail matters.”

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