We Know Now Why Boeing's Door Plug Bolts Didn't Do Their Job

As federal investigators and regulators at the Federal Aviation Administration continue probing the cause of the near-disaster aboard Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, the story just keeps getting worse for Boeing, the manufacturer of the 737 MAX 9 that lost its door plug while climbing out of Portland. 

The latest revelation is especially damning: the plane that sparked a new round of questions over Boeing's ability to ensure its jets' safety left the factory without the door plug bolts installed. They weren't just loose — as door plug bolts on other aircraft were found to be upon mandatory post-incident inspections — they weren't there. 

According to the Wall Street Journal, the bolts on the jet operating Alaska 1282 "appear to have been missing when the plane left Boeing's factory" after "the plane maker's employees failed to put back the bolts when they reinstalled a 737 MAX 9 plug door after opening or removing it during production."

This latest and "increasingly likely scenario" is "based partly on an apparent absence of markings on the Alaska door plug itself that would suggest bolts were in place when it blew off the jet around 16,000 feet over Oregon on Jan. 5," according to WSJ sources.