The Chief Executive Officer of Boeing has acknowledged that the aircraft manufacturer was at fault, following a door blow-out on one of its planes shortly after takeoff in the United States.
Fortunately, no one was injured when the unusable cabin door of an Alaska Airlines aircraft from Portland, Oregon came free on Friday.
Since the incident, 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft have been grounded in the US.
Boeing’s chief executive officer, Dave Calhoun, on Tuesday, announced the company was “acknowledging our mistake.”
Weighing 27 kg (60 lb), the door “plug” that fell out of the aeroplane was meant to block an emergency escape that was installed inside the aircraft but was not required by Alaska Airlines.
The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reported that the missing portion of the aircraft was found in a Portland teacher’s backyard garden.
Investigators have also shown that the airline restricted the aircraft after receiving pressurisation warnings in the days preceding the disaster.
Mr Calhoun, while speaking to Boeing staff, said, “We’re going to approach this number one acknowledging our mistake. We’re going to approach it with 100% and complete transparency every step of the way.”
He reassured the staff that the organisation will work cooperatively with the NTSB to find out the cause of the accident.
Calhoun said, “They will get to a conclusion… the FAA [Federal Aviation Authority] who has to now deal with airline customers who want airplanes back in service safely and to ensure all the procedures are put into place, inspections, all the readiness actions that are required to ensure every next airplane that moves into the sky is in fact safe and that this event can never happen again.”
Empathising with those who watched with horror at the footage of the incident, Calhoun said, “When I got that picture, all I could think about – I didn’t know what happened so whoever was supposed to be in the seat next to that hole in the airplane. I’ve got kids, I’ve got grandkids and so do you. This stuff matters. Every detail matters.”
Following the FAA’s announcement that “keeping the flying public safe” remained its top priority, inspections of Boeing 737 Max 9s are still ongoing.
