David Shepardson
(Reuters) – The National Transportation Safety Board warned Boeing (NYSE:) on Thursday it could lose its status as a party to the investigation into the mid-air explosion of a 737 MAX after the company broke rules by providing classified information to the media and speculating about possible causes.
In a letter sent to Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun late Thursday, NTSB Aviation Safety Director Timothy LeBaron said the executive’s comments this week during a plant tour attended by dozens of journalists “revealed proprietary investigative information and made unfounded claims.” speculation about possible causes.” about the door stopper being removed on January 5.”
LeBaron said the NTSB was considering removing Boeing from the investigation and added that further violations could result in Boeing losing its participant status, which would bar it from participating in the investigation.
“Such disregard for federal regulations and rules governing NTSB investigations will not be tolerated,” LeBaron wrote, noting that the board warned Boeing on March 13 about the company’s previous comments.
He added that some remarks to the media made by Elizabeth Lund, Boeing’s senior vice president of quality, were “either inaccurate or unknown to the NTSB,” while others had not previously been disclosed.
Boeing declined to comment directly on the letter, citing an earlier apology the company issued after the NTSB said it was sanctioning the planemaker for its remarks to the media.
The NTSB said Boeing will no longer see information obtained from the investigation, which included the mid-air explosion of a door plug on an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 with four missing bolts. Unlike other parties, Boeing will now not be able to ask questions of other participants at the Aug. 6-7 hearing.
LeBaron said the NTSB will subpoena Boeing witnesses to appear at the hearing, which is expected to include Lund.
The NTSB also said it would forward information about Boeing’s recent conduct to the Justice Department. In May, the Justice Department said Boeing had violated a 2021 agreement with prosecutors that protected it from criminal charges over its interactions with the Federal Aviation Administration before the MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people.
In addition to the Lund issue, LeBaron said Boeing chief engineer Howard McKenzie made prohibited comments during a U.S. Senate hearing this month about the Southwest Airlines (NYSE:) “Dutch roll” incident when he said the event was “not has nothing to do with design.” or production.”
LeBaron said the NTSB “has not reached that conclusion, and our investigators have not yet ruled out design or manufacturing problems.” Southwest declined to comment.
The NTSB is investigating a Southwest 737 MAX that experienced a Dutch roll at 34,000 feet on May 25 while en route from Phoenix, Arizona, to Oakland, California. These lateral asymmetrical movements are named after the Dutch skating technique and can pose serious safety concerns. risks.