Former Boeing Mgr Ed Pierson continues to call out Boeing leadership following a recent incident with an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 where a door-sized section of the plane came off in-flight.
He’s not backing down on his ongoing whistleblowing about problems with the 737 MAX, or systemic issues within Boeing’s leadership and aircraft manufacturing that he witnessed first-hand.
In the video above, Pierson discusses his views and experiences with Seattle’s KIRO 7 News Station. He also notes what he would do if he were in charge, to turn the company around and rebuild confidence within the public and aviation community.
Lots of unanswered questions
Alaska and United Airlines are the only two operators of Boeing’s 737 Max9s in the US. The FAA grounded all Max9s for inspections following the incident, where the door plug came off at around 16,000 feet, leaving a gaping hole in the jet, depressurizing the cabin and forcing an emergency return to Portland, Oregon. While there were some minor injuries, nobody was seriously hurt or killed, but it could have been much worse.
The blown-off door plug on Flight 1282 was found in a residents backyard, without any of its 4 bolts attached. Perhaps they are laying in a field somewhere. Or, perhaps, they were never installed in the first place.
Since then, Alaska says they found “loose hardware” while inspecting other Max9s in their fleet. United also found “installation issues” with door plugs on their own Max9s. United also said they found bolts that needed tightening.
Perhaps even more worrisome, Alaska knew that exact plane was having issues, but it’s unclear if it’s related to the incident on Flight 1282. Other crews had reported pressurization warning lights on 3 prior flights, according to the NTSB. The plane wasn’t allowed to make long-hauls over open water, for fear of not having a runway nearby in case of an emergency.
The FAA has given checklists to operators to follow in their inspections. Max9s across the nation are grounded until operators “complete enhanced inspections which include both left and right cabin door exit plugs, door components, and fasteners”. The FAA has not yet signed off on a return to service plan.
Passengers describe terrifying incident
In an exclusive interview with Seattle Times, a mother who was seated near the blow-out discussed the terrifying incident.
Her teenage son was sitting at the front of the blow-out, herself in the middle seat next to him. A stranger had the aisle seat. The decompression sucked his shirt off and turned his seat. She and the other passenger both held onto him literally for dear life.
Alaska has since issued full refunds to all the passengers, as well as $1,500.00. They are also offering to pay for any therapy needed for the traumatic experience.
Whether that is enough to avoid a class-action lawsuit? Only time will tell.
