An accident like the Alaska Airlines panel explosion in midair “will never happen again,” Boeing's chairman and CEO said Tuesday, as he acknowledged a “mistake” was made before the plane made an emergency landing.
Dave Calhoun said the company is working to assure airline customers its planes are safe and is helping the National Transportation Safety Board determine the cause of the crash, which tore off nearly the entire 737 MAX 9's fuselage on Friday. hole
“We're going to approach this, No. 1, admit our mistake. We're going to approach it with 100% and full transparency,” he said. City hall staff meeting At the 737 factory in Renton, Washington. Boeing is going to work with the NTSB “to find out what the root cause is,” he said.
Calhoun said the agency will “come to a conclusion” about the cause of the crash and will work with investigators and the Federal Aviation Administration to make sure it “never happens again.”
“I got kids, I got grandkids, and you too. This material is important. Everything is important, every detail. I know I'm preaching to the choir here, this isn't a lecture, not by any stretch. This is nothing but a reminder of the seriousness with which we should approach our work,” he said.
Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 from Portland, Oregon to Ontario International Airport in Southern California on Friday was thrown into crisis when a panel known as a door plug separated six minutes after takeoff and was already at an altitude of 14,800 feet.
To the passengers' horror, the cabin depressurized the accelerator and the plane quickly returned to Portland; 171 passengers and six crew suffered only minor injuries.
The FAA ordered the nation's entire fleet of 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 planes to be grounded Saturday; The next day, a high school teacher, Bob Sauer, discovers a missing door sign in the backyard of his Portland home.
The NTSB said at a news conference Monday that the team's initial inspection showed signs of broken guides and missing bolts — although fasteners may have been lost during the crash.
Calhoun thanked the “pilots and crew who got that plane back on the ground in a very horrendous moment, in a very horrendous situation.”
“They practice [all] Their lives have to do that, but you never know until you know. I hope most people don't know,” he said.
Calhoun talked about how difficult it would have been for Alaska Airlines leadership to land the entire flight. “They did it quickly, and that — potentially — prevented another accident or another moment,” he said.
He also acknowledged that Boeing faces a “communications task” in rebuilding trust with its airline customers.
“Moments like these shake me to my bones, shake them to the bone. They have faith in all of us, they do, but we must demonstrate by our actions, a willingness to work directly and openly. With them, and every airplane in the sky with the Boeing name on it, they are indeed safe.” Make sure to understand,” Calhoun said.
“We will see a way to do that, but we have to know that we are starting from the moment that is most interesting to our customers,” he added.
