We’re about to get the most detailed explanation yet for Boeing’s terrifying mid-air blowout

The public already knows a lot about the January 5 Alaska Airlines flight that had a door plug blow out of the side of the Boeing 737 Max as it approached 16,000 feet. We’re potentially about to find out a lot more.

The public already knows a lot about the January 5 Alaska Airlines flight that had a door plug blow out of the side of a Boeing 737 Max as it approached 16,000 feet. We’re potentially about to find out a lot more. The incident left a gaping hole in the side of the plane, sending oxygen masks falling from the ceiling, tearing off clothing and ripping phones out of passengers’ hands and hurling them into the darkness. Fortunately, the crew was able to land the crippled jet without any serious injuries. It was a combination of the skill of the flight crew and good luck that no one was killed. The accident did do serious damage to the public’s confidence in plane manufacturer Boeing, prompting a series of federal investigations into its practices and the safety and quality of its aircraft. One of those investigations is being conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board, the federal regulator that investigates all manner of accidents, from railroad derailments to some car crashes to virtually all plane crashes. The NTSB is scheduled to hold 20 hours of public hearings about the Alaska Airlines incident spread over two days, starting Tuesday morning. It will begin by making public a docket of more than 60 documents running more than 3,800 pages that have been collected in the seven months since the accident. Then will come testimony from NTSB staff investigators and questions from the members of the safety board. The NTSB has already released preliminary findings from the incident, disclosing that the plane used on the flight left the Boeing factory in Renton, Washington, 10 weeks earlier and without the four bolts needed to hold the door plug in place.