In a recent press briefing, Jennifer Homendy, Chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), revealed that the cockpit voice recorder from the Alaska Airlines flight, where a panel was blown off, was entirely overwritten.
The incident, which occurred on a 737 Max 9 model plane, led to an emergency landing at Portland's International Airport.
"We have nothing," Homendy told reporters, expressing the loss of crucial information that could have shed light on the incident. "The cockpit voice recorder was completely overwritten. There was nothing on the cockpit voice recorder."
The NTSB Chair described the emergency landing as a "very chaotic event," with officials setting up an emergency center in response. The maintenance team retrieved the cockpit voice recorder around the two-hour mark, by which time the entire recording had been lost.
Homendy emphasized the significance of the lost recording, stating, "If that communication is not recorded, that is unfortunately a loss for us and a loss for FAA and a loss for safety, because that information is key." She suggested that the recording could have provided valuable insights into the moment the panel blew off, an incident that occurred when the flight had reached an altitude of 16,000 feet.
In the aftermath of the incident, Alaska Airlines grounded its planes, and other 737 Max 9 models were also grounded and inspected. United Airlines, in its subsequent inspections, discovered "loose bolts" in several of its aircraft.
In a statement addressing the findings on its Boeing Max 9 aircraft, United Airlines said, "Since we began preliminary inspections on Saturday, we have found instances that appear to relate to installation issues in the door plug -- for example, bolts that needed additional tightening."
The incident has led to increased public scrutiny of the airline industry. This comes on the heels of controversy surrounding reports of multiple airlines transporting illegal immigrants around the country earlier in December.
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