A court in Delaware has dismissed a lawsuit brought by Boeing investors against the company’s executives over a door plug blowout on a 737 MAX 9 in 2024.
A group of pension funds holding Boeing shares accused the manufacturer of ignoring safety-related red flags in the months leading up to the blowout, which happened on an Alaska Airlines flight from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California. But the Delaware Chancery Court found that Boeing’s management handled safety and quality control information appropriately and worked to improve the company’s safety culture. The court noted that the safety reports the executives regularly received did not indicate “serious misconduct or an impending corporate trauma,” according to law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, which defended Boeing’s leadership.
The pension funds filed their case in November 2024. It was not immediately clear if they will have an avenue to appeal.
The door plug blowout caused an uncontrolled decompression inside the aircraft, injuring three people. The 737 MAX returned to Portland and landed safely; there were no fatalities.
The NTSB’s final report on the incident, released last summer, found that the jet’s left mid exit door plug was missing four critical installation bolts. It faulted Boeing’s safety and quality processes for not catching the problem and failing to properly document every person who worked on the door plug and the surrounding fuselage.
The report encouraged the FAA to step up oversight of Boeing’s safety programs.
