NEW YORK – CEO of the company Boeing, David Calhoun, he apologized. Speaking to staff and workers during a visit to the 737 factories in Renton, Washington state, the man at the head of the American company admitted the need to recognize “mistakes” after the in-flight door suction incident. ofAlaska Airlines, minutes after taking off from Portland, Oregon. “I have children, I have grandchildren and so do you – he said as he addressed his staff and employees – this thing counts, everything counts, every detail. I’m not here to give lessons, but it’s just a reminder of how seriously we need to take our jobs.”
It is the first time Colhoun has commented on the accident which happened on Friday night and which could have had tragic consequences had the plane with 171 passengers and six crew on board not been near an airport. His confession, revealed The Wall Street Journaldelivered a positive result on Wall Street: Boeing shares rose nearly 4% in late morning hours after losing earlier in the week and after the Federal Transportation Agency halted more than 170 Boeing 737 Max 9 put them under control.
United AirlinesMeanwhile, he discovered that some of the screws on the doors were loose, the result of an assembly problem, a worrying sign that prompted the US government to extend the stop. “We – admitted Calhoun – must start from element number one: recognize our mistakes and address them with maximum transparency.” The CEO said a similar accident “cannot happen again”.
On Friday, passengers first heard a dull thump, then a kind of explosion. Within seconds, the central door was sucked through the window, almost five thousand meters above sea level. A mobile phone, a teddy bear and a t-shirt of a 12-year-old boy sitting near the fuselage in row 27 flew. The oxygen masks automatically dropped. Passengers feared the plane might explode in mid-air. The emergency lasted about seven minutes, time to descend and return to Portland International Airport.
Boeing’s CEO did not specify which “errors” he was referring to. Other top managers of the company did not complete the details of Calhoun’s statement, who in his message to employees, in addition to praising the skills of the plane’s pilots and flight attendants, admitted how the accident shook the entire management. “Moments like this,” he said, “shake them all to the bone, just like what happened to me. They have confidence in us and will continue to have confidence in us.”
The CEO added that engineers were gathering information and promised that the cause would be found. Experts from the government’s independent investigative agency are investigating, but admitted it was too early to draw conclusions.