Boeing overwrote surveillance footage from the repair facility where a door plug was reinstalled ahead of the blowout on an Alaska Airlines flight earlier this year, according to a letter Wednesday from National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Jennifer Homendy to the Senate Commerce Committee.
The NTSB had been requesting the footage in order to investigate what happened during the midflight scare.
The NTSB still does not know which Boeing employees worked on the failed door plug of Alaska Airlines 1282, which had its door plug blow out during a flight in January, Homendy also said in the letter.
The fuselage plug area of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 Boeing 737-9 Max, which was forced to make an emergency landing with a gap in the fuselage, is seen during its investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board in Portland, Ore, Jan. 7, 2024.
NTSB/Handout via Reuters, FILE
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“To date, we still do not know who performed the work to open, reinstall, and close the door plug on the accident aircraft,” Homendy wrote to Sens. Maria Cantwell and Ted Cruz. “Boeing has informed us that they are unable to find the records documenting this work.”
Boeing said in a statement Wednesday that it will continue to support the NTSB’s investigation “in the transparent and proactive fashion we have supported all regulatory inquiries into this accident.”
“We have worked hard to honor the rules about the release of investigative information in an environment of intense interest from our employees, customers, and other stakeholders, and we will continue our efforts to do so,” the statement continued.
During her hearing in front of the committee earlier this month, Homendy informed lawmakers that Boeing had not yet handed over documents needed in their investigation, including the names of 25 people who worked on the door plug.
After NTSB investigators initially requested the documents on Jan. 9, they learned the door crew manager was out on medical leave, according to Homendy. They requested updates on Feb. 15 and Feb. 22, though were informed by the manager’s attorney that “he would not be able to provide a statement or interview to NTSB due to medical issues,” Homendy wrote in her letter.
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Following the March 6 hearing, Boeing provided a list of names to the NTSB of personnel who reported to the door crew manager, but that list did not identify who performed the door plug work, according to Homendy.
Homendy stated in her letter that she then contacted Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun after receiving the list and asked for the names of those who performed the work. Calhoun “stated he was unable to provide that information and maintained that Boeing has no records of the work being performed,” according to Homendy’s letter.
“The absence of those records will complicate the NTSB’s investigation moving forward,” Homendy wrote in the letter, which was requested in response to questions during her testimony in front of the committee.
Homendy insisted in the letter that her agency is “not in any way seeking the names of employees who performed the work on the door plug for punitive purposes” — saying she instructed the NTSB to protect the identities of the door crew and other front-line employees who come forward.
Jennifer Homendy, Chair of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), testifies before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee at the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, on March 6, 2024, in Washington, D.C.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
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Following the hearing, Boeing said in a statement to ABC News that the company has responded “comprehensively” to all NTSB requests with relevant information.
“Early in the investigation, we provided the NTSB with names of Boeing employees, including door specialists, who we believed would have relevant information. We have now provided the full list of individuals on the 737 door team, in response to a recent request,” the statement said. “With respect to documentation, if the door plug removal was undocumented there would be no documentation to share.”
“We will continue to cooperate fully and transparently with the NTSB’s investigation,” the company said.
The door plug of Alaska Airlines flight 1282 fell off a few minutes after take off from Portland International Airport on Jan. 5. Passengers captured footage showing a hole where the door plug came loose on the Boeing 737 Max 9 plane. The plane safely made an emergency landing and no one was seriously injured.
An NTSB preliminary report released last month found that four bolts designed to prevent the door plug from falling off the Boeing 737 Max 9 plane were missing before the plug blew off the flight.
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The NTSB will hold a two-day investigative hearing on the door plug incident in August, the agency announced on Tuesday.
The investigating hearing will “assist in obtaining information necessary to determine the facts, circumstances, and probable cause of the transportation accident or incident under investigation and to make recommendations to improve transportation safety,” the NTSB said in a statement.
The agency held similar hearings last year on the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
Your guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the world
Live Nation has agreed to a preliminary settlement with the US government to end a monopoly case brought by the Department of Justice, in a deal that would stop short of breaking up the company.
The DoJ and some US states have reached a deal with Live Nation, which is the parent company of Ticketmaster, less than a week after trial began in New York, according to a senior justice department official. But 27 other state attorneys-general have refused to join the agreement, arguing it benefits Live Nation.
The DoJ in 2024 sued Live Nation, accusing it of operating a monopoly that “suffocates its competition” in the live entertainment industry. The government alleged that the company illegally dominated the market for ticketing and concert promotion, using “exclusionary conduct” to wield an outsized influence over the majority of live concert venues across the US.
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The lawsuit came amid growing discontent among fans, rivals, artists and US lawmakers, who have accused Live Nation of abusing its market power by charging exorbitant fees and retaliating against venues that choose to work with rivals.
It followed a fiasco during the ticket sale of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in 2022, when Ticketmaster’s website was overwhelmed by massive demand.
The terms of the deal, which will have to be confirmed by a federal court, include Live Nation offering a product that will allow other ticketing companies to use its technology. It would also let go of 13 amphitheatres it owns or controls — a number that may rise if other states join the agreement.
The deal “opens up markets for other competitors, which will allow for competition that previously didn’t exist in primary ticketing and in the live entertainment space”, said a senior DoJ official.
“That competition is going to have a direct impact on prices coming down,” he added. “It’ll also give consumers more options and not feel like they just have to go through Live Nation or Ticketmaster.”
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But New York state attorney-general Letitia James, who has led a bipartisan group of states suing Live Nation, on Monday said in a statement that the agreement “fails to address the monopoly at the center of this case, and would benefit Live Nation at the expense of consumers. We cannot agree to it.”
“[W]e will continue our lawsuit to protect consumers and restore fair competition to the live entertainment industry,” she added.
Live Nation did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Monday that the case involving two men accused of throwing improvised explosive devices near Gracie Mansion is being investigated as an “act of ISIS-inspired terrorism.”
Speaking during a press conference alongside Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Tisch said the suspects, Amir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi, will be prosecuted in federal court in Manhattan.
She said a criminal complaint outlining the charges and factual allegations is expected to be made public later Monday.
Tisch declined to discuss specific details of the ongoing investigation, citing the pending federal prosecution, but confirmed that authorities are treating the case as terrorism-related.
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The announcement comes after Fox News previously reported that federal agents served search warrants in New Jersey and Pennsylvania tied to explosive devices thrown during a protest in New York City.
A New York Police Department source told Fox News that devices hurled into the crowd were packed with nuts, bolts and screws, and contained a chemical substance inside a taped canister fitted with a fuse.
Balat and Kayumi, who were arrested on Saturday, remained in custody as federal teams searched their homes in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, according to federal sources.
Investigators also executed a warrant at a related address in New Jersey.
NYPD Bomb Squad officers search a car on March 8, 2026, in New York City.(Ryan Murphy/Getty)
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Other federal sources told Fox News on Monday morning that a “terror investigation” is now underway after confirmed improvised explosive devices and a suspicious device were discovered near Gracie Mansion over the weekend.
Sources said the two suspects, Balat and Kayumi, allegedly made pro-ISIS statements while in custody.
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Investigators are also examining their past travel, including trips to Turkey and potentially other locations known as terror training grounds.
This is a developing story; check back for updates.
new video loaded: Airports Struggle to Staff T.S.A. During Partial Government Shutdown
Screening delays come as spring break travel is ramping up and as Transportation Security Administration workers are going without pay for the second time in six months because of the partial government shutdown.
