Hearing into Alaska Airlines Door Plug Incident Begins
The Facts
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) hearing on the Jan. 5 incident where the door plugs on an Alaska Airlines flight blew out midair entered its second day on Wednesday, and included testimony on the Boeing 737 Max 9 and the company's safety and manufacturing practices.
On Tuesday, executives from Spirit Aero, the company that produces fuselages for the 737 MAX, and Boeing vice president Elizabeth Lund answered questions from the NTSB, union officials, and Alaska Air in a hearing that lasted 10 hours.
The Spin
Narrative A
Boeing's reputation has been shred to tatters, with this hearing exposing the pervasive inattention to safety and quality that has led to numerous accidents. The plethora of evidence suggests that Alaska Air was no one off, and serious course corrections are needed. Boeing cannot be trusted to self-regulate, and greater intervention from regulators is sorely needed.
Narrative B
Boeing's manufacturing practices are absolutely standard for an industry of such complexity, and it is the sprawling decentralization of aviation that has made air travel so safe and affordable. There are criticisms to be made of the company's fast-paced culture, but they harbor no systemic issues, and their maligned manufacturing processes are actually to our benefit.
