Rigorous inquiry into Boeing vowed

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the Federal Aviation Administration will rigorously assess Boeing Co. after the blowout of a fuselage section on an Alaska Airlines flight in January.

To maintain airline safety, “that means an enormous amount of rigor in dealing with Boeing, in dealing with any regulatory issue,” Buttigieg said on “Fox News Sunday.” “And that’s exactly what the FAA is doing,”

Boeing has faced scrutiny from passengers and regulators after a series of high-profile flight incidents this year, most notably the blowout of a fuselage section on a new 737 Max 9 during an Alaska Airlines flight in January.

Four bolts that should have prevented the panel covering an unused door from flying off were apparently missing, the National Transportation Safety Board found in a preliminary report.

“In an event like this, it’s normal for the DOJ to be conducting an investigation,” Alaska Airlines said Saturday in a statement. “We are fully cooperating and do not believe we are a target of the investigation.”

Additionally, Boeing said in a letter to Congress that it can’t locate records of the work performed on the door panel that failed, an unusual acknowledgment in an industry that places a significant emphasis on documentation.

Buttigieg’s comments follow a mishap-filled week for United Airlines. One of its aircraft ran off a taxiway at Houston on Friday, another lost a tire after takeoff from San Francisco and a flame-spewing engine forced another into an emergency landing.