FAA seeks over $3 million in fines from Boeing over safety lapses

The Federal Aviation Administration is seeking $3.1 million in fines from Boeing over safety violations, including ones related to an Alaska Airlines jetliner losing a door plug panel on its fuselage in midflight. The proposed penalty is for safety violations that occurred from September 2023 through February 2024, the FAA said Friday.

That period includes the January 2024 blowout of a paneled-over exit door – called a door plug — on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 shortly after it took off from Portland, Oregon.

In June, the National Transportation Safety Board said its 17-month long investigation found that lapses in Boeing’s manufacturing and safety oversight, combined with ineffective inspections and audits by the FAA, led to the door plug blowout.The FAA said that it identified hundreds of quality system violations at Boeing’s 737 factory in Renton, Washington, and Boeing subcontractor Spirit AeroSystems’ 737 factory in Wichita, Kansas.

Boeing has 30 days to respond to the FAA. In a statement Saturday, the company said it is reviewing the agency’s proposed civil penalty, noting that it had put in place a safety and quality plan last year, under FAA oversight, that aims to enhance safety management and quality assurance in its airplane production.