Back in January 2024, a scary incident occurred on an Alaska Airlines flight when a panel flew off a fuselage in the middle of a flight, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the plane. The incident sparked an investigation from the Federal Aviation Administration, and that has led to a rather concerning discovery.
Following the investigation, the FAA said that it found “hundreds” of violations throughout the manufacturing process and has proposed a significant fine for Boeing, which manufactured the 737 MAX aircraft.
FAA Finds ‘Hundreds’ of Violations
Following the investigation into the incident, the FAA said on Friday that it had “identified hundreds of quality system violations” at Boeing’s Renton factory and its supplier Spirit AeroSystems between September 2023 and February 2024, according to the Anchorage Daily News.
While the FAA did not provide more details on the quality system violations it found in Boeing’s operations during that time period, the regulator did propose fining Boeing $3.1 million for the violations.
The FAA said that Boeing presented two unairworthy aircraft to the FAA for airworthiness certificates and failed to follow its quality system. Additionally, the FAA says that Boeing pressured a worker to sign off on a 737 MAX airplane so that the company could meet its delivery schedule, even though the worker had determined the aircraft did not comply with standards.
Boeing Responds to the Findings
In response to the findings, Boeing issued a statement.
“We regret the January 2024 … accident and continue to work on strengthening our safety culture and improving first-time quality and accountability across our operations,” Boeing said in its statement.
Since the incident, the manufacturer has been designing and implementing a safety and quality plan.
“Our team continues to implement these improvements, such as investing in workforce training, strengthening production system compliance, and encouraging employees to speak up,” Boeing said in its statement.
Other Boeing 737 Incidents
It’s worth noting that the 2024 incident is not the only recent incident involving a Boeing 737 that has sparked FAA investigations. Over the past few months, two Delta Air Lines flights have had issues with flaps coming removed from the wing.
Back in early July, a Delta Air Lines flight from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta was missing a flap when it arrived at its destination at Raleigh-Durham International Airport. The piece of the plane was ultimately found in the driveway of a residential property.
Then, in August, passengers noticed that a piece of the flap partially broke off during a flight from Orlando International to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
Nobody was injured in either incident, but it was certainly a concerning pattern that sparked an FAA investigation.
The Boeing 737 is the most common passenger jet in use today, with around 4,400 of them in service globally. The aircraft is used by Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Alaska Airlines.
