NTSB says Boeing could lose 737 MAX probe status if it violates rules again

The fuselage plug area of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 Boeing 737-9 MAX, which was forced to make an emergency landing with a gap in the fuselage, is seen during its investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in Portland, Oregon, U.S. January 7, 2024. NTSB/Handout via REUTERS/ File Photo

By David Shepardson

(Reuters) - The National Transportation Safety Board warned Boeing on Thursday it could lose its status as a party to the probe into a 737 MAX mid-air blowout after it violated rules by providing non-public information to media and speculating about possible causes.

In a letter sent to Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun late on Thursday, NTSB Office of Aviation Safety Director Timothy LeBaron said an executive's comments this week during a factory tour attended by dozens of journalists "released non-public investigative information and made unsubstantiated speculations about possible causes of the Jan. 5 door plug blowout."

LeBaron said the NTSB had considered removing Boeing as a party to the probe and added further infractions could lead to Boeing losing its party status, which would bar it from participating in the investigation.

"This disregard of the federal regulations and rules governing NTSB investigations cannot be tolerated," LeBaron wrote, noting the board had warned Boeing on March 13 about prior company comments.

He added that some of the remarks to media made by Elizabeth Lund, Boeing's senior vice president of quality, were "either inaccurate or unknown to the NTSB" while others had not been previously disclosed.

Boeing declined to comment directly on the letter, referring to an earlier apology it released after the NTSB said it was sanctioning the planemaker over the remarks to media.

The NTSB said Boeing would no longer see information produced during its probe, which involved the mid-air blowout of an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 door plug with four missing bolts. Unlike other parties, Boeing will now not be allowed to ask questions of other participants at a hearing on August 6-7.

LeBaron said the NTSB would subpoena Boeing witnesses to appear at the hearing, which are expected to include Lund.

The NTSB also said it would refer Boeing's recent conduct to the Department of Justice. In May, the DOJ said Boeing had violated a 2021 settlement with prosecutors that shielded it from criminal charges over interactions with the Federal Aviation Administration prior to MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people.

Separate to the issue with Lund, LeBaron said Boeing Chief Engineer Howard McKenzie during a U.S. Senate hearing this month made prohibited comments about a Southwest Airlines "Dutch roll" incident, when he said the event "has nothing to do with design or manufacturing."

LeBaron said the NTSB "has not made any such determination, and our investigators have not yet ruled out design or manufacturing issues." Southwest declined to comment.

The NTSB is investigating a Southwest 737 MAX that experienced a "Dutch roll" at 34,000 feet while en route from Phoenix, Arizona to Oakland, California on May 25. Such lateral asymmetric movements are named after a Dutch ice skating technique and can pose serious safety risks.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Jamie Freed)