Jet blowout: Boeing chief admits error

We’re going to approach this, number one, acknowledging our mistake...

BOEING CEO Dave Calhoun on Tuesday addressed Friday’s mid-air panel blowout from an Alaska Airlines jet, acknowledging the planemaker made a mistake and telling staff it would work with regulators to make sure it “can never happen again.”

The statements were Boeing’s first public acknowledgment of error since the incident on Friday left the 737 MAX 9 plane with a gaping hole.

Alaska Airlines and United Airlines, the two US carriers that use the temporarily grounded planes, have found loose parts on similar aircraft, raising fears such an incident could happen again.

In a separate meeting, Boeing told staff that findings of loose bolts in airplanes were being treated as a “quality control issue” and checks were under way at Boeing and supplier Spirit Aerosystems, according to sources.

Boeing has ordered its plants and those of its suppliers to ensure such problems are addressed and to carry out broader checks of systems and processes, they said.

“We’re going to approach this, number one, acknowledging our mistake,” Calhoun told employees, according to an excerpt released by Boeing. “We’re going to approach it with 100 percent and complete transparency every step of the way.”

Boeing shares fell 1.4 percent on Tuesday as United canceled 225 daily flights, or 8 percent of its total, while Alaska canceled 109, or 18 percent. Similar cancellations were expected yesterday.

Calhoun also told Boeing employees the company will “ensure every next airplane that moves into the sky is in fact safe.”

Dave Calhoun Boeing CEO

(Reuters)