Four bolts were missing from the Boeing plane involved in the mid-air hatch explosion incident

Alaska Airlines reported that it discovered “loose equipment” after its initial inspection.

New York:

Four bolts are missing from the panel of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft that exploded in flight last month, according to preliminary findings released Tuesday.

The National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report into the Jan. 5 incident said there was no damage or deformation around the hole, “indicating that four bolts that prevent the (door) plug from moving upward before the plug moves up and clear the stop pad are missing.”

Documents and photos collected by the agency show that Boeing employees removed four bolts from those locations during an inspection at the Renton, Wash., plant before the plane was delivered last October.

The operation was to replace five damaged rivets in the aircraft’s cabin. Additional photos taken after the rivets were replaced show at least three bolts that have not yet been reinstalled.

This door stopper is used to block exits that are not intended to be used, as the model already has adequate emergency exits in this configuration.

The panel took off mid-flight on an Alaska Airlines MAX 9 on January 5 after taking off from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California. The incident resulted in only minor injuries.

Alaska Airlines reported that it discovered “loose equipment” after its initial inspection.

United Airlines, which has the largest fleet of 79 737 MAX 9 aircraft, said that during inspections it found “bolts that required additional tightening.”

Boeing has encountered a series of problems with its aircraft in recent months, forcing the U.S. company to slow deliveries.

At a congressional hearing on Tuesday, new Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Michael Whitaker said there was a need for greater oversight of Boeing in the wake of the Alaska Airlines incident.

“(Boeing) has had issues in the past, but they don’t appear to have been resolved,” he told a House aviation subcommittee hearing.

“So we feel we need to increase oversight to really do that,” he added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)