Boeing receives a major reprimand from the NTSB after “flagrant” violations of federal regulations during a secret news conference

Troubled planemaker Boeing received a major rebuke from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) after the company decided to hold a secret media briefing on the ongoing investigation into the explosion of a plug in the center cabin door of an Alaska Airlines 737MAX aircraft. Airlines in January.

In a fierce statement, the NTSB accused Boeing of “flagrant” violations of federal investigative regulations as well as an agreement signed with investigators into the Jan. 5 accident.

Boeing invited selected members of the media to a briefing on Tuesday, during which a Boeing executive released investigative information despite the parties’ agreement with the NTSB that expressly prohibited them from sharing such information.

In its withering attack on the Chicago-based aerospace giant, the NTSB noted that because Boeing has been involved in numerous investigations over the decades, “few entities know the rules better than Boeing.”

Throughout the Alaska Flight 1282 investigation, the NTSB shared important investigative evidence with Boeing, but as a direct result of Boeing’s ill-conceived press conference, that privilege has now been revoked in order to keep important evidence secret.

“Due to Boeing’s recent actions, Boeing will retain its party status, but will no longer have access to investigative information generated by the NTSB as it develops the actual accident record,” the NTSB statement explained.

“The NTSB may subpoena any relevant documents it needs during the course of its investigation,” the statement continued.

If Boeing’s situation couldn’t get any worse, the NTSB also announced that it would refer Boeing to the Department of Justice’s Fraud Division over the unauthorized media briefing.

The allegations against Boeing include leaking classified information from the investigation to the media, as well as providing opinions and analysis, and a Boeing executive suggested he was the “cause of the accident.”

At one point in the briefing, Boeing suggested that the NTSB’s investigation was focused on finding the individual engineer responsible for installing a faulty door plug that exploded and caused an explosive decompression as the brand-new 737MAX-9 took off from the Portland airport.

The spokesman explained that the NTSB’s role in this investigation was to discover the probable cause of the accident, not to point fingers at individuals.

Boeing is under criminal investigation for possible violations of a “deferred prosecution agreement” in connection with the fatal Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines 737MAX crashes. In recent days, it emerged that the Department of Justice would recommend prosecution.

Boeing executives are scheduled to appear at a hearing about the NTSB investigation on Aug. 6 and 7 in Washington, D.C., and if they refuse, the agency says it will subpoena the company for questioning.

Unlike the other parties involved in the hearing, the NTSB plans to prohibit Boeing from interviewing other people involved in the hearing.

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