Investing.com -- The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will hold a hearing on Tuesday to determine the probable cause of a mid-air cabin panel blowout on a Boeing (NYSE: BA ) 737 MAX 9 flight that occurred in January 2024.

According to officials, the NTSB is expected to severely criticize Boeing’s safety culture and specifically highlight the company’s failure to install four key bolts in the new aircraft.

NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy has previously stated that the incident was "entirely avoidable," noting that Boeing should have addressed unauthorized production work much earlier. During an investigative hearing last August, Homendy emphasized, "This accident should have never happened. This should have been caught years before. The safety culture needs a lot of work."

The January blowout prompted the U.S. Justice Department to launch a criminal investigation and declare Boeing non-compliant with a 2021 deferred prosecution agreement. In the aftermath, CEO Dave Calhoun announced his planned departure within months of the incident.

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