NTSB hearing: Boeing 737 Max manufacturing process, FAA oversight under scrutiny

The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a two-day investigative hearing starting Tuesday morning on the midair door plug blowout of an Alaska Airlines (ALK) 737 Max 9 in January, with Boeing (NYSE:BA) and Spirit AeroSystems (NYSE:SPR) executives scheduled to testify.

The executives include Elizabeth Lund, senior vice president of quality for Boeing (BA) Commercial Airplanes; Doug Ackerman VP of supplier quality at Boeing Commercial Airplanes; Terry George, SVP of Spirit’s (SPR) Wichita and Tulsa operations; and Scott Grabon, senior director for 737 quality at Spirit.

They will testify on 737 Max 9 fuselage manufacturing, inspections, reporting observations, and process for documenting removal of installed parts, among other areas of concern.

Several Federal Aviation Administration officials will testify at the hearing on Wednesday on the regulator’s oversight and audit of Boeing (BA), among other issues.

In June, the NTSB sanctioned Boeing (BA) for revealing non-public information about the midair blowout probe to the media. Boeing was barred from seeing information produced during the NTSB’s investigation, and won’t be allowed to ask questions of other participants at the hearing.