03:48 PM EDT, 08/06/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Boeing ( BA ) plans to make design changes to prevent door panel blowouts like the one during a January Alaska Airlines (ALK) 737 Max 9 flight, a senior executive said during a testimony Tuesday.

The plane maker is working on design changes and plans to implement within the year, Senior Vice President for Quality Elizabeth Lund said during her appearance before the National Transportation Safety Board.

The NTSB questioned why the 737 Max 9 did not come with a proximity switch that is present on all 737 exit doors that notifies staff of a possible issue. Lund said a door warning sensor was not included in the plane's exit door plug because it was designed to be a structure and "not something that opens and closes."

Lund added that based on her conversations with the company's engineering experts, activating the sensor for the plug would not have necessarily worked "as we would want." Instead, the engineers are working on design changes that would not allow the plane's door to close unless it was firmly secure.

The head of the Federal Aviation Administration previously described the January incident as a production failure and said the company emphasized mass production over safety standards.

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