NTSB, Boeing have not been able to identify who removed 737 MAX 9 door plug

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 door plug is displayed for the news media in advance of National Transportation Safety Board hearings in early August on the January Alaska Airlines ALK.N Boeing 737 MAX 9 in-flight door plug emergency, at the NTSB materials lab in Washington, U.S., July 30, 2024. REUTERS/David Shepardson/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The National Transportation Safety Board and Boeing (NYSE:) have not been able to determine who removed a door plug in a new 737 MAX 9 Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 that suffered a mid-air emergency in January, the board’s chair said Tuesday.

NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy told reporters Boeing needs to make significant improvements to its safety practices. “The safety culture needs a lot of work (at Boeing),” she said. “It is not there from the evidence itself, from what you see in the interviews. There’s not a lot of trust, there’s a lot of distrust within the workforce.”