FAA seeks US$3.1 million in fines from Boeing over safety violations, 2024 midair panel blowout

The Boeing logo is displayed at the company's factory, Sept. 24, 2024, in Renton, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is seeking US$3.1 million in fines from Boeing over safety violations, including ones related to an Alaska Airlines jetliner losing a door plug panel on its fuselage in midflight.

The proposed penalty is for safety violations that occurred from September 2023 through February 2024, the FAA said Friday.

That period includes the January 2024 blowout of a paneled-over exit door — called a door plug —- on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 shortly after it took off from Portland, Oregon.

None of the 171 passengers or six crew members on the flight were seriously injured. Pilots landed the plane safely back at the airport.

In June, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said its 17-month long investigation found that lapses in Boeing’s manufacturing and safety oversight, combined with ineffective inspections and audits by the FAA, led to the door plug blowout.

The FAA said Friday that it identified hundreds of quality system violations at Boeing’s 737 factory in Renton, Washington, and Boeing subcontractor Spirit AeroSystems’ 737 factory in Wichita, Kansas.

Among other violations, the regulator also found that a Boeing employee pressured a member of Boeing’s ODA unit, which is tasked with performing certain inspections and certifications on the FAA’s behalf, to sign off on a 737 Max airplane “so that Boeing could meet its delivery schedule, even though the ODA member determined the aircraft did not comply with applicable standards.”

Arlington, Virginia-based Boeing has 30 days to respond to the FAA.

In a statement Saturday, Boeing said it is reviewing the agency’s proposed civil penalty, noting that the company put in place a safety and quality plan last year, under FAA oversight, that aims to enhance safety management and quality assurance in its airplane production.

“We regret the January 2024 door-plug accident and continue to work on strengthening our safety culture and improving first-time quality and accountability across our operations,” the company said.

The Max version of Boeing’s bestselling 737 airplane has been the source of persistent troubles for the company since two of the jets crashed, one in Indonesia in 2018 and another in Ethiopia in 2019, killing a combined 346 people.

The Justice Department reached a deal in May allowing Boeing to avoid criminal prosecution for allegedly misleading U.S. regulators about the Max before the two crashes.

Boeing was also in the news in June when a 787 flown by Air India crashed shortly after takeoff and killed at least 270 people. Investigators have not determined what caused that crash, but so far they have not found any flaws with the model, which has a strong safety record.

Alex Veiga, The Associated Press