Delaware court dismisses investor lawsuit over 737 MAX door plug blowout

A Delaware Chancery Court has dismissed a lawsuit filed by pension funds holding Boeing stock against the company's executives over the January 2024 door plug blowout on a Boeing 737 MAX 9.

The plaintiffs, who filed suit in November 2024, alleged that Boeing management overlooked internal warning signs about safety and quality issues in the period before the incident, which occurred on an Alaska Airlines flight from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, California. The aircraft suffered a rapid decompression after a door plug separated in flight, injuring three passengers. The plane returned safely to Portland and there were no fatalities.

According to the law firm that represented Boeing's leadership, the court found that executives had handled safety and quality information appropriately and had taken steps to strengthen the company's safety culture. The court reportedly concluded that the safety reports reviewed by management did not point to serious misconduct or signal an impending crisis. It was not immediately clear whether the pension funds intend to appeal the ruling.

A final report from the National Transportation Safety Board released last summer determined that the aircraft's left mid exit door plug was missing four bolts required for installation. The board attributed the failure to shortcomings in Boeing's safety and quality control processes, including inadequate documentation of personnel who worked on the door plug and surrounding fuselage. The NTSB also called for increased regulatory oversight of Boeing by the Federal Aviation Administration.