The space where the MED plug separated from the airplane in the Jan. 5 accident.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says its inspection of the Boeing 737-9 MAX that experienced a rapid decompression last month after losing a door plug has found that bolts on the plug were not reinstalled after replacement of several damaged rivets in September 2023.
The NTSB’s investigation of the Jan. 5 accident is continuing, but in a preliminary report released Tuesday, the board said investigators had determined that the four bolts designed to prevent the upward movement of the left mid exit door (MED) plug were missing before the accident.
The NTSB said that records showed that the MED plug was manufactured by Spirit AeroSystems Malaysia in March 2023 and received at Spirit AeroSystems Wichita (Kansas, U.S.) two months later. It then was installed in the airplane’s fuselage, and, in August 2023, the fuselage was delivered to Boeing. In Sept…
