The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has imposed sanctions on Boeing for disclosing non-public details about the government's investigation into the Alaska Airlines door-plug incident that occurred this year during a 737 Max 9 flight. The NTSB said Boeing had "blatantly violated" the agency's regulations when the embattled plane manufacturer provided information on the investigation and speculated about the cause of the incident at a media briefing.
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A transcript of the briefing provided to the NTSB showed Boeing revealed non-public information to the media that the regulator had neither verified nor authorized for release. The NTSB said those actions are prohibited by an agreement Boeing signed when it was offered party status by the regulator at the beginning of the investigation. "As a party to many NTSB investigations over the past decades, few entities know the rules better than Boeing," the regulator said. Boeing said it regretted that some of its comments during the briefing had overstepped the NTSB's role as the source of investigative information. "We apologize to the NTSB and stand ready to answer any questions as the agency continues its investigation," a Boeing statement read.
Boeing is also accused of mischaracterizing the investigation as a search to locate the person who had worked on the door plug. The Justice Department is already considering whether to prosecute Boeing for breaking the terms of an agreement after two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 that resulted in the deaths of 346 people. The NTSB said Boeing will retain its party status in the investigation but will no longer have access to the investigative information the NTSB produces as it develops the factual record of the accident.
The NTSB will also subpoena the company to appear at an investigative hearing into the case scheduled for Aug. 6 and 7 in Washington, DC. Given that Boeing is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice in relation to its Deferred Prosecution Agreement stemming from Boeing’s interactions with the FAA prior to the Boeing MAX fatalities, the NTSB will be coordinating with the DOJ Fraud Division to provide details about Boeing’s recent unauthorized investigative information releases in the 737 MAX 9 door plug investigation.