For decades, Boeing has employed industrial engineering methods and installation protocols as well as quality control standards in the manufacture and assembly of its aircraft. This door plug did not fail its structure by itself. If it was manufactured in another country, it was manufactured to rigid structural standards. It was inspected for design compliance upon arrival.
The door plug was installed and has an assembly record of testing and engineered installation procedures as well as being examined in many stages of assembly. All locks, bolts and attach-point hardware have been supplied and there is a record of their acquisition, parts issuing, and installation and were examined after installation for proper assembly according to design.
The records of that door’s installation exist for that aircraft. It does not matter if after failure the bolts and securing devices can not be found. What matters is that the records should reveal that they were or were not properly installed before any further interior details were installed to cover the door aperture.
Then at some point, the aircraft was pressure tested and passed before delivery to the customer. The question should be asked, since the door assembly was found intact, what quality assurance was done. Did the attach bolts fail? Damage to the door assembly may show that, or damage to the door-way structures may show attach-point rupture. Even the attach-point hardware (nuts and bolts) are manufactured to engineered specs and tested. This report of “missing bolts” by media, found after this incident is inflammatory and is without documentation.
Samuel Bess
Stanwood
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