The continuing decline of Boeing
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Although fortunately nobody seems to have suffered a major injury, the latest failure in a Boeing 737 MAX is very concerning:
In the second news conference since a door plug to a Boeing 737 MAX 9 blew out on an Alaska Airlines plane midflight, National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy described a chaotic and loud scene on the nearly full flight of 171 passengers, including three babies and four unaccompanied minors.
On Sunday night, after the second day of investigating, Homendy said flight crew members described “a bang” during the explosive decompression, during which the door to the cockpit flew open.
The full capacity of the plane is 178 seats, she said, and the seats closest to the door plug in row 26 were unoccupied.
A panel plugging an unused door blew out at 16,000 feet, before the plane reached cruising altitude, according to early Federal Aviation Administration reports and flight data. A hole in the jet’s frame quickly decompressed air in the cabin, forcing the crew to turn the plane around and return to Portland International Airport.
A schoolteacher, identified only as Bob, found the lost door plug Sunday near Portland, according to the NTSB. He discovered it in his backyard and sent two photos to the safety board. Investigators will examine the plug, which measures 26 by 48 inches and weighs 63 pounds, for signs of how it broke free.
Several passengers were injured but have since been medically cleared, Alaska Airlines said. Homendy said a flight attendant witnessed the first officer jolt forward and briefly lose her headset.
If you haven’t read Jerry Useem’s article about the transformation of Boeing that accelerated when the head office was moved to Chicago, this would be a good time. The tl;dr is that the original culture of Boeing — centered around engineering — was largely consumed by the defense contractor culture of McDonnell Douglas, focused on maximizing the short-term stock price and maximizing executive compensation at the expense of the long-term quality of what the company produces. The move of the head office to Northern Virginia is a pretty strong signal that management thinks it’s on the right course, which is really not great.