Dave Calhoun ‘shaken to the bone’ by Alaska Air accident, and admits Boeing mistake

Days ago, video footage showed Alaska Airlines crew narrowly avoiding disaster when a door panel on a nearly new 737 Max 9 tore off at 16,000 feet.

Despite the close call, Flight 1282 safely landed with all 177 occupants unharmed, preventing what could have been the first fatal aviation accident in U.S. skies since 2009.

“All I could think about [was] I didn’t know what had happened to whoever was supposed to be in that seat next to that hole in the airplane,” Calhoun told Boeing staff on Tuesday, adding it “shook him to the bone”. 

Addressing the troops, he thanked the crew of Alaska Air for saving the day before warning Boeing needed to acknowledge its mistake and strive for full transparency: “This event can never happen again.”

Stockholders will no doubt agree: 171 Boeing aircraft have now been grounded, and other carriers including United Airlines, the largest 737 Max 9 customer, reported loose bolts in their planes.

Shares have shed more than 8% of their value in the aftermath.   

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun fought back tears as he said the planemaker must own up to its shortcomings after a door plug ejected from a 737 Max 9 https://t.co/kEv3uSLlvN pic.twitter.com/VHLTdtrvxI

— Bloomberg TV (@BloombergTV) January 10, 2024

The incident is starkly reminiscent of the cover-up around its 737 Max flight software that was directly responsible for two crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia, causing hundreds of deaths.

It later emerged that senior leadership, led at the time by CEO Dennis Muilenburg, had ignored warnings brought by engineers.

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