Boeing Unauthorized 737 Work Issue Should Have Been Caught Years Earlier, NTSB Says

WASHINGTON—The head of the National Transportation Safety Board said on Wednesday the Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 mid-air emergency was entirely avoidable because the planemaker should have addressed unauthorized production work long ago. “This accident should have never happened. This should have been caught years before,” NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy told reporters on the second day of a hearing into the Jan. 5 incident in which a panel blew off an Alaska Airlines flight after takeoff from Portland, Oregon. “There have been numerous, numerous Boeing audits, FAA audits, compliance reviews, compliance actions plans, noting a history of an unauthorized work, unauthorized removals,” she added....