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Final report on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 in-flight exit door plug separation

(www.ntsb.gov:443)
165 points starkparker | 1 comments | 10 Jul 25 20:51 UTC | HN request time: 0.207s | source
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hughes ◴[10 Jul 25 21:51 UTC] No.44526023[source]▶
Part of me wonders if the plug could be designed such that it's obvious when the bolts are missing. Would this have happened if it were impossible to assemble without them, or if it were easy to verify their presence?

Maybe it doesn't matter if a better design is possible - if adequate procedures exist and weren't followed, and oversight fails to catch instances of that, then anything could go wrong.

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1. gavinsyancey ◴[10 Jul 25 22:12 UTC] No.44526255[source]▶
> Once you complete the certification of Boeing Commercial Airplanes’ design enhancement for ensuring the complete closure of Boeing 737 mid exit door (MED) plugs following opening or removal, issue an airworthiness directive to require that all in-service MED plug-equipped airplanes be retrofitted with the design enhancement. (A-25-15)

It sounds like Boeing is currently working on designing and certifying a design enhancement to the MED plug to make it obvious if one is not closed properly. Not sure where to find the details on it though.