FAA Proposes $3.1 Million Fine Against Boeing for Safety Violations in Alaska Airlines Incident and Multiple Quality System Breaches
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has proposed penalties totaling $3.1 million against Boeing for safety lapses, including an incident involving a door plug panel detaching from an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft during flight.
The FAA announced the proposed fines on Friday, citing safety violations that occurred between September 2023 and February 2024. This period encompasses the mid-flight incident involving a paneled-over exit door, known as a door plug, on an Alaska Airlines flight that departed from Portland, Oregon in January 2024.
Fortunately, none of the 171 passengers or six crew members were seriously injured, and the pilots successfully landed the plane back at the airport.
In June, findings from a 17-month investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) revealed that Boeing’s manufacturing practices and safety oversight were deficient, coupled with ineffective inspections and audits by the FAA, leading to the door plug incident.
The FAA revealed hundreds of quality system violations at Boeing’s 737 factory in Renton, Washington, and Spirit AeroSystems’ 737 factory in Wichita, Kansas. Among these violations, a Boeing employee reportedly pressured a member of Boeing’s ODA unit, responsible for certain inspections and certifications on behalf of the FAA, to approve a 737 Max airplane despite it not meeting applicable standards, so that Boeing could meet its delivery schedule.
Boeing, based in Arlington, Virginia, has 30 days to respond to the FAA’s proposed civil penalty. In response, Boeing stated that they are reviewing the agency’s proposal and mentioned that they implemented a safety and quality plan last year under FAA oversight, intended to bolster safety management and quality assurance in their airplane production.
“We regret the door-plug accident and continue our efforts to strengthen our safety culture and improve first-time quality and accountability across our operations,” Boeing stated.
The Max variant of Boeing’s bestselling 737 aircraft has been a recurring challenge for the company since two of these jets were involved in crashes – one in Indonesia in 2018 and another in Ethiopia in 2019, claiming the lives of 346 people.
In May, the Justice Department reached an agreement with Boeing that allowed the company to avoid criminal prosecution for allegedly misleading U.S. regulators about the Max before the crashes. In June, a Boeing 787 operated by Air India crashed shortly after takeoff, killing at least 270 people. Investigations into this crash have not yet identified its cause, but they have not discovered any issues with the model, which has an established strong safety record.