A door plug area of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft awaiting inspection with paneling removed at the airline's facilities at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in SeaTac, Washington, D.C., U.S., January 10, 2024. /CFP
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) completed the first of two days of hearings on Tuesday that lasted nearly 10 hours in Washington, D.C., presenting evidence and witness testimony related to the Alaska Airlines mid-air door panel blowout of a Boeing 737 MAX 9 on January 5 over Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon.
Workers at Boeing's Renton factory failed to properly secure the fuselage piece, NTSB investigators found.
The fuselage piece blew out of the Alaska flight with 171 passengers and six crew members aboard. Eight people sustained minor injuries, according to the NTSB.
The two-day hearings will feature witnesses from Boeing, its supplier Spirit AeroSystems, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The FAA had previously grounded approximately 171 Boeing 737-9 MAX planes following the Alaska Airlines door panel blowout incident.