NTSB chief: Boeing not cooperating with probe of mid-flight door plug blowout – National & International News – WED 6Mar2024

NTSB chief says Boeing not cooperating with probe of mid-flight blowout.

DOJ: Air Force employee shared classified documents on dating site.

Report: US calls on Haiti premier to resign amid unrest.

NATIONAL NEWS

NTSB chief says Boeing not cooperating with probe of mid-flight blowout

National Transportation Safety Board Jennifer Homendy told stunned lawmakers on Capitol Hill that Boeing is dragging its feet on providing information about manufacturing errors that caused a door plug to blowout in mid-air during an Alaska Airlines flight in early January. “Boeing has not provided us with the documents and information that we have requested numerous times over the past few months,” Homendy said.

According to Homendy, Boeing has refused to tell investigators who worked on the door plug. “There is one team — one team that deals with the doors — of 25 people. Why we don’t have those names today, two months later, is really disappointing,” Homendy said. Without those records, NTSB cannot interview the employees who carried out a repair job on the door plug during which it’s believed several bolts were mistakenly removed and not replaced. 

Boeing has not turned over documentation that repair job, nor even said whether they kept such records. Security camera footage that might have captured who was doing the work has also been erased.

“There are two options,” Homendy said. “Either [those records] exist and we don’t have them or they do not exist”. If they don’t exist, that “raises concerns about quality assurance, quality management safety management systems within Boeing”.

Click here for the full story (opens in new tab).

Boeing’s safety culture is ‘inadequate’ and ‘confusing,’ new FAA report finds

US Air Force employee charged for sharing classified documents on dating site

The Department of Justice has accused David Slater, a 63-year-old former Army lieutenant colonel, of sharing sensitive classified information with a woman he met on a dating website claiming to be from Ukraine. The woman, who called Slater her “secret informant love”, solicited secret information regarding the US response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Their correspondence took place between February and April 2022, beginning during the lead-up to the invasion. At the time, Slater was working in a civilian role for U.S. Strategic Command. He had a top secret clearance.

In one of the exchanges, the woman wrote, “Beloved Dave, do NATO and Biden have a secret plan to help us?”. The woman was also happy that Slater had access to information about certain country (unnamed in the indictment) and wrote, “I hope you will tell me right away? You are my secret agent. With love”. 

According to the indictment, Slater sent his love match classified information “regarding military targets in Russia’s war against Ukraine” in March 2022. In April, 2022 13 he sent her information “regarding Russian military capabilities relating to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine”.

Click here for the full story (opens in new tab).

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Report: US calls on Haiti premier to step down amid unrest

According to a report in The Miami Herald, US officials have called on Haiti’s embattled de facto leader Ariel Henry to resign. Henry assumed power in Haiti after its President Jovenel Moise was assassinated in the summer of 2021. Since then, the political and security situation in Haiti has continued to spiral with various gangs seizing control of parts of the island, including the capital Port-au-Prince.

Despite widespread calls from Haiti’s population for Henry to step down, the US has backed him, until now. The Biden administration pinned its hopes on Henry to regain control of the island and bring about elections, both of which Henry has failed to do. After two years, it appears the US as finally decided it backed the wrong horse. The US call for Henry’s ouster seems to have taken many by surprise, including Henry himself.

Henry’s return blocked

Henry has been away from Haiti for several days. He first flew to Kenya to cement a deal for Kenya to send 1000 of its policemen to Haiti in hopes of restoring order. He also made a secret stopover in the US to meet with Biden officials. While Henry was in the US, Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier, 46, a former Haitian policeman who now leads the powerful G9 gang, publicly called for Henry to resign or risk civil war. The G9 gang and others then joined forces to besiege Haiti’s airports to prevent Henry’s return from overseas.

When Henry left the US, the plan was for him to fly to the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti. From there, he would take a helicopter over the border during the night. But during his flight to Santo Domingo, Henry learned that he’d been denied permission to land there. He was also informed that the US wanted him to resign. Henry’s plane was diverted to the US territory of Puerto Rico where he was met on the tarmac by US Secret Services officials.

The US now wants Henry agree to a transitional government that would oversee elections of a new President and Prime Minister and prepare to work with the Kenya-led security mission. Henry would then resign either when the transitional government is set up or when the security mission arrives, whichever comes first.

Click here for the full story (opens in new tab).