Boeing clashes with NTSB over media leaks on 737 MAX 9 incident

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has imposed restrictions and sanctions on Boeing for failing to publicly disclose details of its investigation into the door latch defect on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 during a press conference at its Renton plant on Tuesday.

In a statement, the NTSB said Boeing “flagrantly violated the NTSB’s investigative rules” and the “signed party agreement with the NTSB” by “disclosing nonpublic investigative information to the media and speculating about possible causes of the door latch failure of a Boeing passenger aircraft on January 5 in Portland, Oregon.”

About four dozen media representatives from the United States and around the world attended the press conference on Tuesday. Among them was The Air Current, which was the first to report on the NTSB sanctions and described the release of safety information as scarce. Reporters in attendance are subject to a Boeing embargo on full coverage of the event.

According to the NTSB, a Boeing executive released details of the investigation to the media and “provided an analysis of the facts,” both of which are prohibited by the party agreement Boeing signed at the beginning of the investigation.

“Because Boeing has been involved in many NTSB investigations over the past decades, few know the rules better than Boeing. As a result of Boeing’s recent actions, Boeing retains its status as a participant but no longer has access to the investigative information the NTSB creates in establishing the facts of the accident,” the NTSB said.

The NTSB said it will subpoena all Boeing documents if necessary and will also subpoena Boeing to a hearing scheduled for August 6 and 7 in Washington, DC.

“Unlike the other parties in the hearing, Boeing is not permitted to ask questions of the other participants,” the NTSB said.

The most serious setback of this violation is that the NTSB is now taking a stand against Boeing as the U.S. Department of Justice reviews the aircraft maker’s Deferred Prosecution Agreement – at a time when the Justice Department is under pressure to file criminal charges against Boeing executives and impose heavy fines.

“The NTSB will work with the Department of Justice’s Antifraud Division to provide details regarding Boeing’s recent unauthorized release of investigative information related to the 737 MAX 9 door stop investigation,” the NTSB said.

The NTSB had no knowledge of the event prior to the scheduled press conference. The agency has not disclosed how it learned of the event or provided details of what was discussed with the press. When the NTSB learned of the press conference, it asked Boeing for information. Boeing provided the NTSB with a transcript of the event, which showed that Boeing had indeed violated the terms of its investigation agreement by sharing information that was not cleared for release.

“In addition, Boeing submitted statements and analyses of factors it believes contributed to the accident,” the NTSB said.

Perhaps most inflammatory was the way Boeing highlighted its ongoing investigation into how and why the four bolts that would have prevented the door stop from coming loose were not installed in the assembly when the Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 jet left the Boeing factory.

Boeing and the NTSB disagreed on the matter early in the investigation. The work appears to have been undocumented and important details are missing, including who performed the repair on a nearby frame when the door plug bolts may have been removed.

“In the briefing, Boeing portrayed the NTSB investigation as a search for the person responsible for working on the door plugs,” the agency said. “The NTSB is instead focusing on the probable cause of the accident and is not looking for an individual or liability.”