Boeing accused of relying on ‘crappy stuff’ from subcontractor after 737 MAX 9 mid-air blowout
A former US congressman – who led an extensive investigation into previous issues with Boeing planes – has accused the company of relying on “crappy stuff” from its subcontractor after the 737 MAX 9 mid-air blowout.
Peter DeFazio, who chaired the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee until 2022, said the focus needs to turn to Spirit AeroSystems, which built the door plug that blew out of the Alaska Airlines plane after it took off on 5 January.
Mr DeFazio said on Tuesday that Boeing has been “happy with the crappy stuff from Spirit because it’s cheap”.
He previously led an investigation into Boeing after all of it’s MAX passenger jets were grounded in March 2019 for 20 months following two crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia which killed 346 people between them.
Peter DeFazio previously chaired the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Pic: AP
Boeing chief executive Dave Calhoun has acknowledged the company made a mistake after six crew members were injured on flight 1282 from Portland to California on 5 January.
In his first public comments on the incident, Mr Calhoun told staff it would work with regulators to make sure it “can never happen again”.
His comments come after both Alaska Airlines and United Airlines – two of the US carriers that fly the 737-9 – reported finding loose bolts and other hardware in other planes, suggesting issues with the door plugs are not limited to one plane.
“We’re going to approach this number one acknowledging our mistake,” Mr Calhoun told employees, according to an excerpt released by Boeing.
“We’re going to approach it with 100% and complete transparency every step of the way.”
Dave Calhoun speaking in 2023
Shortly after Alaska Airlines flight 1282 had taken off a window and chunk of fuselage blew out of the plane.
It is believed roller guides at the top of one of the door plugs broke (for reasons unknown). This allowed the entire panel to swing upward and break away, leaving six people injured.
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The US National Transportation Safety Board said on Tuesday that it was investigating whether four bolts that help prevent the panel from sliding up on rollers were missing when the plane took off from Portland or whether they blew off “during the violent, explosive decompression event”.
Boeing executives told staff the issues were being treated as a “quality control issue” and checks are under way at Boeing and Spirit.
On Monday, Spirit said in a statement that “quality and product integrity” are a priority. It said: “Spirit is a committed partner with Boeing on the 737 programme, and we continue to work together with them on this matter.”
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Meanwhile, Mr Calhoun said Boeing employees of the company will “ensure every next plane that moves into the sky is in fact safe”.
It comes after the White House said on Tuesday that Americans should feel safe flying in the wake of the incident.
The Federal Aviation Agency continues to inspect each 737-9 before an “airworthiness certificate is issued and cleared for delivery”.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
A farmer who fell from a greenhouse roof during an anti-immigrant raid at a licensed cannabis facility in California this week has died of his injuries.
Jaime Alanis, 57, is the first person to die as a result of Donald Trump’s Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) raids.
His niece, Yesenia Duran, posted on the fundraising site GoFundMe to say her uncle was his family’s only provider and he had been sending his earnings back to his wife and daughter in Mexico.
The United Food Workers said Mr Alanis had worked on the farm for 10 years.
“These violent and cruel federal actions terrorise American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families,” the union said in a recent statement on X.
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it executed criminal search warrants at Glass House Farms facilities on Thursday.
Mr Alanis called family to say he was hiding and possibly fleeing agents before he fell around 30ft (9m) from the roof and broke his neck, according to information from family, hospital and government sources.
Agents arrested 200 people suspected of being in the country illegally and identified at least 10 immigrant children on the sites, the DHS said in a statement.
Mr Alanis was not among them, the agency said.
“This man was not in and has not been in CBP (Customs and Border Protection) or ICE custody,” DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.
“Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a greenhouse and fell 30ft. CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”
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Four US citizens were arrested during the incident for allegedly “assaulting or resisting officers”, the DHS said, and authorities were offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a person suspected of firing a gun at federal agents.
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In a statement, Glass House, a licensed Cannabis grower, said immigration agents had valid warrants. It said workers were detained and it is helping provide them with legal representation.
“Glass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors,” it added.
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