Leaders from Boeing, Spirit AeroSystems and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) kicked off two days of testimony in front of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), as regulators continue to press for answers months after the January blowout of a door plug aboard a Boeing 737 Max 9. 

Two days of planned testimony spanning 20 hours kicked off on August 6, including executives with Boeing and its supplier Spirit AeroSystems. Part of that also included the release of hundreds of pages of interview transcripts from workers with both Boeing and Spirit, who described a culture of rushed work, low safety standards, and frequent discord between the planemaker and supplier. 

"We were definitely trying to put out too much product," said one anonymous Boeing worker. “That’s how mistakes are made — people try to work too fast. I can’t speak for anybody else, but we were busy; we were working a lot.”

Read More: Number of Boeing Workers Reporting Safety Concerns Skyrockets in 2024

Another claimed that Boeing employees frequently had to redo subpar work on planes assembled by Spirit, despite the fact that there was no formal training for properly removing a door plug. He went on to allege that his team was "replacing doors like we were replacing our underwear," and that planes would arrive "jacked up every day." In the case of the January door plug blowout, it was previously revealed that workers at Boeing's Renton factory had removed the plug for maintenance, and then reattached it without four crucial bolts that were designed to hold it in place.  

During the August 6 hearing, things also got heated when one Boeing executive began to tout safety improvements the company has made since the blowout. NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy quickly admonished the executive, stating that "this isn't a PR campaign for Boeing," and telling them to instead focus their testimony on the investigation into the incident itself.

The second day of testimony on August 7 will include a handful of Boeing safety managers as well as inspectors with the FAA, with NTSB leaders expected to question them over the FAA's oversight of Boeing.