Pressure continues to build on Boeing after The US National
Transportation Safety Board released initial findings from its
investigation into the incident on an Alaska Airlines plane in January
in which a panel on a 737 Max 9 passenger jet blew out mid-air.
The safety body said, “four key bolts that were meant to lock the unused door to the fuselage appeared to be missing”.
The initial finding came as Emirates president Sir Tim Clark said
Boeing is in the "last chance saloon” and needed to instil a safety
culture which is “second to none”.
Emirates, which is one of Boeing’s biggest customers, is sending
engineers to monitor Boeing's production lines for the first time.
In a statement, Boeing's president Dave Calhoun said, "An event like
this must not happen on an airplane that leaves our factory. We simply
must do better for our customers and their passengers.
"We are implementing a comprehensive plan to strengthen quality and the confidence of our stakeholders.”
Once upon a time, American fliers used to say, “If it ain’t Boeing,
we ain’t going”, but there are indications that travellers are thinking
twice about the safety of the aircraft they are flying. “If it’s Boeing,
we ain’t going” might become the new catchphrase.
Booking site Kayak allows users to filter by aircraft when booking
flights and said usage of the 737 Max filter increased threefold in the
days following the Alaska Airlines incident.
It has moved the filter forward on its website to make it more
prominent and added the ability to check specifically for the 737 MAX 8
and MAX 9 models.