Boeing 737 Max probe still dark over who caused door fail

US accident investigators said they remain in the dark about who performed the work on the panel of a Boeing Co. jet that failed in January, despite high-level pleas to the company and interviews at the factory where the fateful removal of the part was performed. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said she made a direct request to Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun last week, according to a letter to Senators on Wednesday. Her team has also been conducting interviews with workers at the company’s Renton, Washington, factory. Investigators first requested the identity of the crew who worked on a panel that failed on the flight four days after the Jan. 5 accident, Homendy said in the letter. Boeing has said it’s unable to find the records, and factory security footage that may have helped had been overwritten by then. “The absence of those records will complicate the NTSB’s investigation moving forward,” Homendy said. Homendy’s comments highlight the escalating tensions between the government agency and the nation’s largest planemaker. The NTSB says it’s not getting what it needs to drill down into the causes of the accident, while Boeing maintains it’s being fully cooperative. When Homendy testified to the Senate panel last week, she said it was “absurd” that investigators hadn’t received all documents and information sought from the manufacturer. Boeing said in a statement that it will support the investigation in a “transparent and proactive fashion.” Homendy and the company have said that the video footage is routinely erased after 30 days. After Homendy’s testimony on March 6, the company said it had provided the NTSB with names of all employees who may have worked on the panel. She spoke with Calhoun directly by phone, who was unable to specify the people directly involved “and maintained that Boeing has no records of the work performed.”<br/>