Washington, DC – The National Transportation Safety Board Chair, Jennifer Homendy, revealed on Wednesday that the agency is facing challenges in determining who worked on the panel that detached from a jetliner in January. Boeing’s CEO informed Homendy that the company does not possess records related to the job, complicating the NTSB’s ongoing investigation.
Homendy expressed her concerns in a letter to a Senate committee investigating the incident involving a Boeing 737 Max 9 operated by Alaska Airlines. She highlighted the impact of Boeing’s lack of records on the progress of the NTSB’s investigation.
Despite Boeing’s promise to cooperate with the investigation, Homendy shared that the NTSB’s request for security-camera footage from September to identify the workers responsible for the panel was declined by Boeing, citing the automatic erasure of video recordings after 30 days as company policy.
Following her appearance before the Senate Commerce Committee, Boeing provided names of 25 employees working on doors at the company’s 737 factory near Seattle. However, the specifics on which worker removed the panel remain unknown, as confirmed by Homendy after contacting Boeing’s CEO, David Calhoun.
While the NTSB’s emphasis on identifying individual workers poses potential challenges by discouraging cooperation, Homendy assured protection of the identities of Boeing employees who choose to come forward with information. This cautious approach aims to maintain open communication and transparency in the investigation process.